Travel bans and lockdowns in China as Covid-19 surges, 2,591 new local cases reported

Beijing: China has imposed more travel bans and lockdowns in more than 20 provinces witnessing a Covid-19 surge as the pandemic situation in the country continues to heat up. China on Tuesday reported 2,591 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said Wednesday.

Of the new local infections, 2,320 were reported in the province of Jilin, 110 in Fujian, 36 in Liaoning, 24 each in Tianjin and Shandong, 15 in Guangdong and 13 in Heilongjiang, Xinhua reported.

The rest of the cases were reported in 12 other provincial-level regions, including Hebei and Jiangxi. According to the commission, a total of 76 imported COVID-19 cases were reported on Tuesday. It further said that three suspected cases, all imported, were reported in Shanghai, as per Xinhua. 

Meanwhile, in view of the pandemic situation, the Chinese authorities have imposed travel bans and lockdowns in several provinces and cities. The situation in more than 20 provinces and cities including Jilin, Hebei, Guangdong, and Shanghai has deteriorated.

China is facing mounting pressure to guard against infections amid a recent surge in cases throughout the country. Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that Beijing will stick to its "zero Covid-19" policy, days after National Health Commission (NHC) released new guidelines easing its control measures.

NHC had uploaded a new document on its website. Titled the Novel Coronavirus Diagnosis And Treatment Plan, it was the ninth revision to a document setting out COVID-19 policy for the country of 1.4 billion.

China`s zero-COVID policy is pushing cash-strapped local governments to the brink amid rising health care costs and efforts to control debt.