China Reports Biggest Spike In COVID-19 Cases In Five Months, Scientists Fear Vaccines Don't Work

Illustration of a Chinese citizen crossing a deserted area using a mask. (Macau Photo Agency / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Chinese authorities reported the largest increase in daily COVID-19 cases in the past five months. This was triggered by an increase in infections in Hebei Province, around the capital Beijing, to launch Reuters on Thursday.

In Thursday's report, Hebei Province covered 51 cases out of 52 local cases reported by the National Health Commission. Meanwhile, the report the day before was only 20 cases.

Authorities in Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei, where most of the new cases are located, have launched a drive-thru mass test system and banned gatherings to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

Travelers must show negative COVID-19 nucleic acid test results taken within 72 hours of boarding a train or plane in the province.

In Dalian City, Liaoning Province, cases of local infection have also been found in recent days. Residents in medium or high risk areas are prohibited from leaving the city. Residents in other areas were told to refrain from leaving Dalian City.

Separately, authorities in Guangdong Province on Wednesday night January 6 reported on a patient infected with a more contagious variant of the coronavirus found in South Africa.

Some scientists fear the COVID-19 vaccine currently being rolled out may not be able to protect against this variant due to certain mutations that have been observed.

In total in this daily report there were 63 new cases, compared to 32 cases the day before. This is the biggest spike in the last five months, after previously there were 127 daily cases as of July 30, 2020.

The number of asymptomatic patients, who had been infected with the disease-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus but were not yet showing any symptoms, also increased to 79 from 64 days previously.

Meanwhile, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China since the outbreak first started in the city of Wuhan at the end of 2019 now stands at 87,278, while the death toll remains unchanged at 4,634.