China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday it recorded 1,968 serious COVID-19 infections and 239 deaths on the mainland last month, with 2,777 severe cases and 164 similar deaths recorded in May.
Last week, the rate of the XBB strain and its substrains rose to 96. 2 percent, the center said.
Of the deaths, two were due to respiratory failure, while the others were due to a combination of underlying ailments and COVID-19 infections, he said.
The number of fever clinics on the continent rose from 288,000 to 164,000 in June.
Last week, symptomatic COVID-19 cases accounted for 4. 4% of all hospital visits, up from 5. 5% in week 22 of this year (May 29 to June 4).
The number of symptomatic instances increased from 42. 5% in week 21 of this year (May 22 to May 28) to 15. 4% last week (June 26 to July 2).
The outlet added that 12,431 instances transmitted with valid genomic sequences were reported last month. All were variant strains of Omicron, covering 141 evolutionary branches.
The circulating strains were the variant strains of the XBB series. The first 3 proportions were XBB. 1. 9 and its substrains, XBB. 1. 16 and its substrains and XBB. 1. 22 and its substrains.
The proportion of XBB and its substrains increased from 94. 7% in week 22 to 96. 2% last week.