China reports nearly 250 local Covid cases in latest outbreak

This article is more than 12 months old

Oct 28, 2021 06:00 am

BEIJING China has reported nearly 250 locally transmitted cases of Covid-19 since the start of the current outbreak 10 days ago, with many infections in remote towns along porous international borders in the country's north-west.

China had 50 new local cases on Oct 26, the highest daily count since Sept 16, official data showed yesterday.

The overall number is tiny compared with figures from outside the country. It is also nowhere near the more than 1,200 local cases reported during China's July-August outbreak and the more than 2,000 cases in January during the last winter.

However, the steady increase of cases in the past week and their geographical spread alarmed local authorities and prompted the return of complex sets of restrictions on travel as well as on the tourism and catering sectors.

China has said the Covid-19 pandemic is the biggest challenge to its hosting of the Winter Olympics in February.

Officials suspected the current flare-up was caused by a virus source from overseas. - REUTERS