China's Covid cases reach peak since late April, Beijing's pivot: Top updates

Covid In China: The quarantine for travelers arriving in China was shortened to five days from seven.

China reported its largest tally of new Covid infections since late April, just a day after Beijing unveiled a spate of new measures, including shorter quarantines, to ease the impact of its strict zero-Covid policy. The quarantine for travelers arriving in China was shortened to five days from seven as part of changes in anti-virus controls announced on Friday.

Covid In China: A worker in a protective suit guides people to scan health QR code at a nucleic acid test booth. (Reuters)

Here are top updates on Covid in China:

1. Of the 11,950 new Covid infections, 1,504 were symptomatic and 10,446 were asymptomatic compared with 10,729 new cases a day earlier – 1,209 symptomatic and 9,520 asymptomatic infections.

2. Guangzhou, a southern metropolis of nearly 19 million people, put a handful of districts under lockdown as it reported 3,180 locally transmitted infections, up from 2,583 a day earlier.

3. Beijing reported 68 symptomatic and 48 asymptomatic cases, versus 64 symptomatic and 54 asymptomatic ones the previous day, data showed.

4. The quarantine for travelers arriving in China was shortened to five days from seven as part of changes in anti-virus controls announced on Friday as Beijing continues to stick to its zero-Covid policy.

5. Flights from Guangzhou to Beijing and other major cities have been canceled.

6. People who want to enter supermarkets, office buildings and other public buildings are required to show negative results of a virus test taken as often as once a day.

7. Chongqing closed schools in its Beibei district, which has 840,000 people as residents were barred from leaving a series of apartment compounds in its Yubei district.

8. Mass testing also was being carried out in eight districts with a total of 6.6 million people in the central city of Zhengzhou.