Xi says China to stick with 'zero-Covid strategy'

Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that Beijing will stick to its "zero Covid-19" policy, days after National Health Commission (NHC) released new guidelines easing its control measures.

During a meeting with top leaders, Xi said China should "continue to put people and life at the forefront, stick with scientific accuracy and dynamic-zero, and curb the spread of the epidemic as soon as possible", Strait Times reported citing state broadcaster CCTV.

On late Tuesday night, the NHC had uploaded a new document on its website.

Titled the Novel Coronavirus Diagnosis And Treatment Plan, it was the ninth revision to a document setting out COVID-19 policy for the country of 1.4 billion.

China's COVID-19 situation getting worsened, a video surfaced on Thursday showing hundreds of people standing in queues to get tested for the virus in the Southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Meanwhile, China's mainland reported 2,388 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

Of these new local infections, Jilin province lodged 1,834 cases, Fujian Province reported 113 cases, and the southern province of Guangdong reported 74 cases, Xinhua reported citing the Chinese National Health Commission.

Earlier, on Wednesday, no COVID-19 deaths were reported.

The state media reported that Chinese observers warned local governments to avoid taking extreme measures such as city lockdowns, as they would harm the local economy.

( With inputs from ANI )