BEIJING, Dec 18 — Mainland China reported 2,097 new symptomatic Covid-19 infections on December 17, compared with 2,286 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said today.

Excluding imported infections, China reported 2,028 new local symptomatic cases, down from 2,229 a day earlier.

China stopped reporting asymptomatic cases from Wednesday, citing a lack of testing among people with no symptoms that was making it difficult to accurately tally the total count.

There were also no new deaths, compared with none the previous day, keeping fatalities at 5,235.

As of December 17, mainland China had confirmed 378,458 cases with symptoms.

Official figures have become an unreliable guide as less testing is being done across the country following the recent easing of zero-Covid policies.

China has jettisoned some of the world’s toughest anti-Covid curbs and is now experiencing a spike in infections, with fears Covid could sweep across its 1.4 billion population during next month’s Lunar New Year holiday. — Reuters