China reports fourth straight daily record of new COVID cases

BEIJING (Reuters) -China reported its fourth straight daily record of 39,791 new COVID-19 infections on Nov. 26, of which 3,709 were symptomatic and 36,082 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Sunday.

That is compared with 35,183 new cases a day earlier – 3,474 symptomatic and 31,709 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately.

Excluding imported infections, China reported 39,506 new local cases, of which 3,648 were symptomatic and 35,858 were asymptomatic, up from 34,909 a day earlier.

There was one new death, versus none a day earlier, raising the total number of fatalities to 5,233.

As of Nov. 26, mainland China had confirmed 307,802 cases with symptoms.

China’s capital and mega-cities continue to struggle to contain outbreaks, with Chongqing and Guangzhou reporting the bulk of new infections.

Local cases in Beijing continued to jump, rising 66% to 4,307 cases, compared with 2,595 the previous day, local government data showed.

Chongqing, a southwestern city of 32 million people, reported 8,861 new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections, up almost 15% from the 7,721 recorded a day before.

Guangzhou, a prosperous city in the south of nearly 19 million people, reported a marginal decrease in local cases at 7,412, compared with 7,419 a day before, local authorities said.

(Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Kim Coghill and William Mallard)