China has recorded 76 new cases of COVID-19—its highest daily increase since January

The eastern city of Nanjing reported the new surge in cases. The city has started its second round of mass testing to contain China’s latest outbreak.

Authorities in Nanjing are seeking to test city’s 9.2 million residents. But authorities remain on high alert after contact tracing found five infected individuals travelled through Nanjing’s airport.

China has taken a zero-tolerance approach to new COVID-19 infections. The nation moves to quickly trace, test and isolate fresh cases of COVID-19 in the community.

It also locks down cities and mass tests its citizens whenever a small clusters appears. China was once the epicentre of the pandemic, after the virus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

China has recorded 120,000 cases of COVID-19, and 5,630 deaths. However, over one billion residents have been vaccinated against the virus.

WHO pushes for second investigation

The new infections follow the World Health Organisation (WHO) calling on countries to work together to investigate the origins of the ongoing pandemic. But China rejected the proposal of a second phase investigation.

Tarik Jasarevic is a WHO spokesperson, who says the investigation is “not about blame”.

“It is about basically a requirement we all have to try to understand how the pathogen came into the human population.”

“In this sense, countries really have the responsibility to work together and to work with WHO in a spirit of partnership.”

But Chinese authorities labelled the probe as “absurd”.