China's single-day Covid tally hits record high with 31,444 new cases

That number broke China's previous record set on April 13, when local cases hit 29,317

China on Wednesday reported the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic began nearly three years ago, official data showed.

Excluding imported cases, the number of new local cases was 31,444 on Nov. 23, of which 3,927 were symptomatic and 27,517 were asymptomatic, health authorities said on Thursday.

That number broke the previous record set on April 13, when local cases hit 29,317.

There was one death, compared with zero the previous day, pushing fatalities to 5,232. As of Nov. 23, mainland China had confirmed 297,516 COVID cases with symptoms.

China's capital Beijing reported 509 symptomatic new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and 1,139 asymptomatic cases for Nov. 23, local government data showed, compared with 388 symptomatic and 1,098 asymptomatic cases the day before.

Financial hub Shanghai reported nine symptomatic cases and 58 asymptomatic cases, compared with 15 symptomatic cases and 53 asymptomatic cases a day before, the local health authority reported.

Guangzhou, a city in the south of nearly 19 million people, reported 428 new locally transmitted symptomatic and 7,192 asymptomatic cases, compared with 235 symptomatic and 7,735 asymptomatic cases a day before, local authorities said.

Chongqing reported 409 new symptomatic locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and 7,437 asymptomatic cases, compared with 215 symptomatic and 6,728 asymptomatic cases the previous day, local government authorities said.

(Reporting by Shanghai newsroom; Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing by Kim Coghill and Miral Fahmy)