Chinese mainland reports 345 new COVID-19 cases, 253 in Shanghai

China on Friday reported 345 local confirmed COVID-19 cases, said the National Health Commission in its report released on Saturday.

Out of 345, 253 were confirmed in Shanghai, Xinhua reported.

Despite the severe risk to the country's economy, China's controversial Zero-Covid Policy continues to remain in place to contain the surge of COVID-19 infections as Xi Jinping refuses to change course.

With a tremendous rise in COVID cases caused by the Omicron variant, China is going through its worst outbreak which will impact freight costs and global inflation, said a local media report.

Moreover, China's much-publicized "Zero-Covid" strategy that the government credited for bringing the country out of the pandemic is also falling apart as the rapidly mounting cases are again forcing mass lockdowns like those seen in 2020 as well as adding to the country's economic woes.

( With inputs from ANI )

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor