Shanghai, China's megacity with a 25 million-strong population has been hit by a surge in coronavirus cases, reported NHK World.
Case numbers have been growing since last week in Shanghai, where staff shortages are causing delays in delivery services.
Shanghai has the largest Japanese population among cities in China. The city's Japanese consulate-general said the virus is spreading among employees at Japanese and other businesses, reported NHK World.
This comes months after Shanghai endured a brutal lockdown to stop the spread of Covid. Hospitals are struggling to cope with the number of infected patients, pharmacies are turning customers away empty-handed, businesses are shutting because staff are off sick, most schools have closed and usage of public transport is plummeting, the report claimed.
But officials at the mission said there have been no reports suggesting production lines or distribution have been severely affected by the surge. They say this is partly because there are no longer restrictions on people's movements, reported NHK World.
A surge of coronavirus cases has been sweeping across China since the government eased its strict lockdowns and measures to contain the spread of the virus, on December 7.
Meanwhile, Chinese media outlets reported that infections are spreading among civil servants in several provinces, including Henan and Shandong. They said local authorities have closed their offices to the public and are calling on citizens to use online services instead, reported NHK World.
Officials of Chengdu in the inland province of Sichuan said at a news conference on Thursday they have set up 300 fever clinics across the city. They said up to 42,000 people are visiting the facilities everyday.
People in China have also raised a fresh chorus for the resignation of Premier Xi Jinping over his failure to rein in the pandemic in the country.
The people have also demanded an end to the one-party rule of the Communist Party of China (CCP), with many raising slogans such as 'Step down, Xi Jinping! Step down, Communist Party!' and 'We don't want lifelong rulers. We don't want emperors', as per a Insideover news report.
China's sudden Covid surge also point towards a lack of effectiveness of its vaccines. This acts as a cause of concern, especially for countries to which China supplies its vaccines, reported Tibet Press.
According to a recent report by Voices Against Autocracy, Chinese citizens have been left to fend for themselves after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), amid widespread protests against the government's 'Zero-Covid' policy, suddenly lifted its stringent Covid regulations.
Covid has been rapidly spreading in China. Unofficial reports claim that about 40 per cent of Beijing's residents are currently infected with Covid. The CCP, according to reports, has shifted its stance on Covid, claiming it to be a mere flu.
As cases rise in major Chinese cities, even people with mild symptoms are rushing to hospitals. Emergency call operators are receiving 30,000 calls a day, six times the average number of calls received.
According to Voices Against Autocracy, there are queues outside fever clinics in various cities. Drugs and medicines are in short supply and hospitals are under stress as doctors and nurses catch the virus. Doctors who have tested positive or are asymptomatic are also being asked to come to work, risking further transmission.
( With inputs from ANI )
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