China reports 353 fresh local Covid-19 cases, 16 deaths in past 24 hours

The Chinese mainland reported 353 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 16 deaths in the past 24 hours, said the National Health Commission on Wednesday.

Of these local cases, 260 were reported in Shanghai while the rest of the cases were reported in 11 other provincial-level regions, including Beijing, Henan and Sichuan, Xinhua reported citing the commission.

The country also reported 5,075 locally-transmitted asymptomatic infections of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, of which 4,722 local asymptomatic carriers were identified in Shanghai.

A total of 2,092 COVID-19 patients recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the recovery toll to 198,550.

However, 16 new deaths, all in Shanghai, were reported in the past 24 hours, Xinhua reported.

Meanwhile, as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread in more and more cities in China, questions are mounting over the country's much-publicized "zero-covid" strategy that the government credited for bringing the country out of the pandemic.

Further, in a major escalation of COVID-19 restrictions amid a surge in Omicron variant cases, Beijing has banned all restaurant dining, shut down Universal Studios and ordered residents to provide proof of a negative Covid test to enter public venues, according to CNN.