Cases double amid China's growing 'stealth Omicron' outbreak 

Beijing: China has logged 5,280 COVID cases on Tuesday, more than double the previous day's tally, amid facing its biggest outbreak since the early days of the pandemic. 

According to National Health Commission, 3507 new locally spread cases had been identified in the past 24 hours—up from 1337 a day earlier. 

The northeastern province of Jilin, the worst-hit area, accounted for more than 3,000 cases, the commission said.

Some 4,066 people have died since the latest wave of cases in the territory began on December 31, according to government data.

Since the novel virus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, China had successfully suppressed large-scale outbreaks through its strict "zero-Covid" strategy, which involved hard lockdowns that confined huge sections of the population to their homes.

However, the fast-spreading variant known as “stealth Omicron” is testing country’s zero-tolerance strategy.

While the numbers are low compared to elsewhere in the world, the more than 10,000 cases China recorded in the first two weeks of March far exceed previous flare-ups.

No new deaths have been reported in the multiple outbreaks across China. 

More than 1000 medical workers have been flown in from other provinces along with pandemic response supplies, and the province has mobilised 7000 military reservists to help with the response.

Tuesday, the sixth day in a row, that more than 1,000 new cases were recorded in the world's second-biggest economy. 

In the meantime, several multinational companies have halted operations as the country widens its Covid lockdowns - among its biggest since the start of the pandemic.