BEIJING (CHINA) – Amid fear of another COVID wave looming as Chinese Lunar New Year holidays draw near, China has reported more than 100 new COVID-19 cases for the sixth consecutive day. Infections were seen spiking in the northeast.
Tough new controls in the city of Gongzhuling in Jilin province, which has a population of around 1 million people, brings the total number of people under lockdown to more than 29 million.
Although daily increases still remain a fraction of what the country saw at the height of the outbreak in early 2020, officials are concerned infections could spread rapidly nationwide during China’s Lunar New Year holiday in less than a month.
The China Railway Corporation is expecting around 296 million railway passenger trips during the Lunar New Year break, compared with 410 million in 2019.
