China on Saturday completed a five-day construction project for a 1,500-room hospital as COVID-19 groups spread to Beijing and surrounding provinces.
Game status: The facility is one of six hospitals with a total of 6,500 rooms in operation in Nangong, Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday on AP reports. All are expected to be completed next week.
By numbers: China reached a 10-month high for COVID cases and reported 168 cases on Friday.
- Yes but: The figures remain well below the levels of infection seen by the nation in February last year, when China reached a record high of about 15,000 cases a day.
- The country has reported more than 97,000 cases and more than 4,700 deaths since Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins University.
- It remains possible that China – the site of the initial outbreak of coronavirus – will not report its cases.
What are they saying: The Chinese government has blamed the increase in food imports and travelers visiting the country.
- The new cases “are all imported from abroad. They were caused by incoming personnel or goods imported from the cold chain,” the National Health Commission said in a statement, per AP.
The whole picture: The WHO agreed in May last year with a call from more than 110 countries to conduct an independent review of the global coronavirus response after China backed the move following clashes with Australia, which had previously backed a comprehensive inquiry.
Go deeper … Chronology: the first days of the outbreak and coronavirus coverage in China