China reports 368 fresh local Covid-19 infections, 20 fatalities

The Chinese mainland reported 368 new locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases and 20 deaths in the past 24 hours, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday.

Of the new local case, 274 were reported in Shanghai, 51 in Beijing and the rest of the cases were reported in 11 other provincial-level regions on the mainland, including 13 in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, Xinhua reported citing the commission.

The country also reported 5,647 new locally transmitted asymptomatic infections of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, of which 5,395 local asymptomatic carriers were identified in Shanghai.

A total of 4,271 COVID-19 recovered in the past 24 hours, while as many as 16,266 people are still undergoing treatment in hospitals across the country.

With 20 deaths, all in Shanghai, reported in the past 24 hours, China's COVID-19 death toll mounted to 5,112, Xinhua reported.

Meanwhile, 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.

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.