Tibet Reports Zero COVID-19 Cases Amid China's Current Major Outbreak - Beijing

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th April, 2022) Tibet remains the only region in China where no COVID-19 cases have been detected during the country's current major COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese National Health Commission said Tuesday.

From March 1 to April 18, in 31 regions of China, including provinces, autonomous regions, cities of central subordination and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, 497,214 local cases of infection were reported in all provinces except Tibet Autonomous Region, the commission spokesman said during a press conference.

The situation in Hebei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong, Fujian and Liaoning provinces has generally stabilized, the spokesperson said. At the same time, the situation in Shanghai remains extremely difficult, the risk of spread of the disease among the population is still high despite the full lockdown, while the situation with prevention and control of the epidemic is tense, he added.

China pursues stringent zero-COVID-19 policy, which is now tested by the wave of the Omicron strain. On March 28, the 25-million strong Shanghai was put under lockdown over a new outbreak of COVID-19 cases. In order to prevent the spread of the disease, the local authorities began mass testing, using a new scheme where areas east and south of River Huangpu were closed from March 28-April 1, while those east and south of Huangpu were locked down from April 1-5.

The COVID-19 spike in China began in early March, since then the infection rate has grown rapidly, with 4,687 cases reported over the past 24 hours. Since the beginning of the pandemic, China has recorded 954,346 cases of COVID-19 with 14,440 cumulative deaths.�