Daily COVID-19 Cases Set A Record, China Tightens Restrictions In All Countries

Illustration of COVID-19 tests in China. (Wikimedia Commons/Shuwangtimanyuan)

China again recorded a record high daily COVID-19 infection case on Friday, while cities in the country imposed restrictions to control the outbreak.

New local COVID-19 infections Thursday set a daily record for the second day in a row, beating figures recorded in mid-April, when Shanghai's commercial hub was crippled by the city's entire lockdown of its 25 million residents lasting two months.

Excluding imported infections, China reported 32,695 new local cases on Thursday, of which 3,041 were symptomatic and 29,654 had no symptoms, up from 31,444 the day before.

There have been major outbreaks and widespread outbreaks, with southern Guangzhou and southwestern Chongqing recording the largest number, while hundreds of new infections have been reported daily in cities such as Chengdu, Jinan, Lanzhou, Xian and Wuhan.

Cases increased fourfold in Shijiazhuang to 3,197 on Thursday compared to the previous day.

Meanwhile, China's capital Beijing reported 424 symptomatic cases and 1,436 asymptomatic cases on Thursday, compared with 509 symptomatic cases and 1,139 asymptomatic cases the previous day, according to local government data.

Shanghai's financial center reported nine symptomatic cases and 77 asymptomatic cases on Thursday, compared with nine symptomatic cases and 58 asymptomatic cases the day before, local health authorities reported.

Separately, Guangzhou, a southern city of nearly 19 million people, reported 257 new locally symptomatic cases and 7,267 asymptomatic cases yesterday, compared with 428 symptomatic cases and 7,192 asymptomatic cases the day before, local authorities said.

Meanwhile, Chongqing reported 258 new, locally transmitted symptomatic COVID-19 infections and 6,242 asymptomatic cases for Thursday, compared with 409 symptoms and 7,437