China is reportedly facing its severest domestic Covid-19 outbreak in two years with a record 1,807 new cases reported on Sunday, the Global Times reported.
The latest spikes in Jilin, Shandong, Guangdong provinces, Shanghai, and Beijing municipalities, which forced several major cities to go into lockdowns, saw a sharp rise in the number of asymptomatic patients.
The daily increase in asymptomatic infections exceeded the daily increase in confirmed cases for six consecutive days from March 7 to 12.
Reports suggest that the Omicron variant has replaced Delta to become the dominant strain in the country.
Meanwhile, pharmacies across China have begun stocking antigen detection kits that provide faster results than nucleic acid testing.
As the country has decided to promote monitoring by using both “antigen screening and nucleic acid diagnosis”, the National Health Commission announced that the general public will be able to use rapid antigen testing.
