China reports 34,980 new Covid cases for 1 Dec vs 36,061 a day earlier

China reported a slight dip in new daily Covid-19 cases on 1 Dec with 34,980 infections, of which 4,278 were symptomatic and 30,702 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Friday.

That is compared with 36,061 new cases a day earlier – 4,150 symptomatic and 31,911 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately.

Excluding imported infections, China reported 34,772 new local cases, of which 4,233 were symptomatic and 30,539 were asymptomatic, down from 35,800 a day earlier.

There were no deaths, same as the previous day, keeping fatalities at 5,233.

As of 1 Dec, mainland China had confirmed 327,964 cases with symptoms.

Cases are dropping as China eases restrictions across cities and is set to announce an easing of its Covid quarantine protocols in the coming days.

China's capital Beijing reported 942 symptomatic and 3,026 asymptomatic cases, compared with 1,023 symptomatic and 4,020 asymptomatic cases the previous day, local government data showed.

Financial hub Shanghai reported 26 symptomatic cases and 209 asymptomatic cases, compared with 23 symptomatic cases and 174 asymptomatic cases a day before, the local health authority reported.

Guangzhou, a city in the south of nearly 19 million people, reported 654 new locally transmitted symptomatic and 5,185 asymptomatic cases, compared with 683 symptomatic and 5,629 asymptomatic cases a day before, local authorities said.

Chongqing reported 189 new symptomatic locally transmitted Covid-19 infections and 6,347 asymptomatic cases, compared with 206 symptomatic and 6,433 asymptomatic cases the previous day, local government authorities said.