China reported more than 20,000 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday (April 6), the highest daily number since the start of the pandemic, with Shanghai at the heart of the viral epidemic, although still locked up.

The country's "zero-COVID" strategy is under great pressure as cases increase.

In March, day-to-day cases in China remained short thanks to fast location locks, mass tests and strict international travel bans.

But the number of cases in recent weeks has reached thousands a day, with officials saying they have seen a mutation in the more portable Omicron variant near Shanghai.

China registered 20,472 infections on Wednesday, according to a statement from the National Health Commission, adding that "there were no new deaths." This is the highest daily infection rate in the country reported by the authorities, also due to the first epidemic in the central vicinity of Wuhan.

However, most cases are asymptomatic.

Even quarantine facilities in Shanghai clash with positively tested people, while city officials strictly adhere to viral protocols.

This involves separating COVID-positive children and children from parents with a negative test, a policy that arouses fear and sadness in troubled families.

Shanghai, China's largest city, accounts for more than 80 percent of the national census, city officials said Wednesday. The 25 million-strong metropolis closed its people last week, sparking panic attacks and mass tests.

The High Representative of Shanghai agreed that the financial center was "not sufficiently prepared" for the explosion.

Anger over fresh food shortages and limited population movement has increased as locks continue and state television CCTV has announced that the city will launch a new round of testing on the entire population on Wednesday.

China, the country where the coronavirus was first discovered in downtown Wuhan at the end of 2019, is one of the last remaining areas since the zero COVID pandemic.

The epidemic has taken on a serious economic dimension, limiting analysts' efforts to close factories and order millions of consumers. 

(Source: // AFP)