China yesterday reported 14,878 new COVID-19 cases, including a record number of cases in Beijing, as well as in manufacturing hubs Guangzhou and Zhengzhou.
The new cases come as industrial activity in Guangzhou and Zhengzhou has been disrupted by restrictions aimed at controlling outbreaks.
The number of daily cases in the country rose from 11,950 on Nov. 11, the Chinese National Health Commission said.
Photo: AFP
Excluding imported infections, China reported 14,761 new local cases, up from 11,803 a day earlier.
Beijing reported a record 235 new daily cases, up from 116 the previous day, local government data showed.
Guangzhou, with a population of nearly 19 million people, reported 3,653 new locally transmitted cases — also a record high. That was up from 3,180 cases the day before.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Zhengzhou, home to facilities of Apple supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry, reported a record 2,642 new daily cases.
The Taiwan-headquartered company has said it aims to resume full production in the second half of this month, after operations were disrupted due to COVID-19 prevention measures.
The record highs also came as state media reported that work to remove “pop-up windows” on smartphone health apps that prevent people from entering or returning to Beijing is “in progress,” and in effect in many places. The health app requires a negative COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction test to allow unrestricted mobility.
The commission on Friday announced a slew of changes to China’s COVID-19 curbs, easing some measures on travel, quarantine and lockdowns on businesses.
However, it yesterday said in a statement that the COVID-19 prevention and control situation remained “serious and complex.”
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
DENIAL: Pyongyang said a South Korean drone filmed unspecified areas in a North Korean border town, but Seoul said it did not operate drones on the dates it cited North Korea’s military accused South Korea of flying drones across the border between the nations this week, yesterday warning that the South would face consequences for its “unpardonable hysteria.” Seoul quickly denied the accusation, but the development is likely to further dim prospects for its efforts to restore ties with Pyongyang. North Korean forces used special electronic warfare assets on Sunday to bring down a South Korean drone flying over North Korea’s border town. The drone was equipped with two cameras that filmed unspecified areas, the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement. South Korea infiltrated another drone
COMMUNIST ALIGNMENT: To Lam wants to combine party chief and state presidency roles, with the decision resting on the election of 200 new party delegates next week Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam is seeking to combine his party role with the state presidency, officials said, in a move that would align Vietnam’s political structure more closely to China’s, where President Xi Jinping (習近平) heads the party and state. Next week about 1,600 delegates are to gather in Hanoi to commence a week-long communist party congress, held every five years to select new leaders and set policy goals for the single-party state. Lam, 68, bade for both top positions at a party meeting last month, seeking initial party approval ahead of the congress, three people briefed by
Indonesia and Malaysia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, after authorities said it was being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images. The moves reflect growing global concern over generative AI tools that can produce realistic images, sound and text, while existing safeguards fail to prevent their abuse. The Grok chatbot, which is accessed through Musk’s social media platform X, has been criticized for generating manipulated images, including depictions of women in bikinis or sexually explicit poses, as well as images involving children. Regulators in the two Southeast Asian