In 2023, the number of kindergartens fell by 14,808 to 274,400, the annual report by the Chinese education ministry stated. It is the second consecutive annual decline in the latest indicator of China's falling birth rates.
World Health Organisation (WHO) has sought more information from Beijing on information about an outbreak of pneumonia in northern China that appears to be mostly affecting children, Al Jazeera reported.
The move comes in the backdrop of a Radio Free Asia report that nearly 250 million people in China may have been affected by COVID-19 in just 20 days after the 'zero-COVID policy' was diluted in the first week of the month.
"China has always been publishing information on COVID-19 deaths and severe cases in the spirit of openness and transparency," Jiao Yahui, head of the Bureau of Medical Administration under the National Health Commission, said at a press briefing held.
Even when China's widely-publicised exchange with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in response to the queries over the reports of surging cases of mycoplasma pneumonia and influenza flu triggered the worldwide alert, including in India, China said the spike in respiratory diseases was due to an 'immunity gap'.
The average age of those who died was 80.3, and 90 per cent of the fatalities were aged 65 or over, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
However, Beijing residents will still require a negative Covid-19 test taken within 48 hours to enter restaurants, schools, bars, internet cafes, indoor gaming stadiums, nursing homes, welfare facilities, hospitals and medical institutions.
The epidemiologist estimates that more than 60 per cent of China and 10 per cent of Earth's population are likely to be infected over the next 90 days with deaths likely in the millions.
The latest surge in cases in the last few weeks was a two year high in the country, denting official claims of China being one of the best performers in curbing COVID-19 pandemic.
China has reported the first case of human infection with the H10N3 strain of bird flu from the country's eastern Jiangsu province, China's National Health Commission said.
The former British colony also reported COVID-related 87 deaths taking the overall toll to 3,729, the report said.
The Chinese capital issued a fresh coronavirus alert on Thursday after it reported 21 local COVID-19 infections a day earlier, three of which were from a high school and the rest from a university, health officials said.
In his fresh directive, Xi said that more targeted patriotic health campaigns should be conducted as the country's COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control faces new situations and new tasks.
The population is important and so is the talent, he said about China, the world's second-largest economy after the United States.
Seeking to address international concerns, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China has been adjusting the zero-COVID policy based on the changing circumstances.
Crowds carrying lighted candles in memory of those killed in the fire at an apartment block reported under COVID-19 lockdown in Urumqi in Xinjiang shouted slogans against the arbitrary lockdowns by the government to curb the spread of the virus and in solidarity with the weekend protests in Shanghai.
Doggedly persisting with its much-criticised zero-Covid policy, China has slipped deeper into the coronavirus quagmire as it reported a record 31,444 infections on Thursday with many of its cities, including Beijing, resorting to community lockdowns to stem the virus amid worsening wintery weather.
The report came at the time when British-based health data firm Airfinity, said that the infections in China are likely to be more than one million a day with deaths at more than 5,000 a day.
Beijing on Monday began mass COVID-19 testing of over 3.5 million people in one of the city's high-profile districts following a spike in cases, while Shanghai reported a record 51 deaths in a day as the eastern metropolis continued to grapple with the Omicron variant for the fourth week.
The global health agency has asked Chinese health officials to share data on genetic sequencing, hospitalisations, deaths and vaccinations.
They agreed to continue technical exchanges to help end the epidemic worldwide as soon as possible, it said.
People in a Beijing district with some 2 million residents were ordered Sunday to undergo mass coronavirus testing following a series of infections as China tightened anti-disease controls ahead of the Winter Olympics.
The Chinese capital, which is battling the spread of the Omicron variant similar to Shanghai, has ordered mass testing from Tuesday in 11 of its districts, virtually covering all its 21 million population.
Apart from Shanghai, 15 other provincial-level regions on the mainland saw new local Covid cases .
The further expansion and upgrade of the Chinese military does not augur well for India, which continues to confront an increasingly belligerent China on its borders, notes former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
It is certain that the Chinese government was 'under-prepared' as it decided to end its zero-COVID policy abruptly after people held protests across the country, The Hong Kong Post reported.
China's Zero-COVID-19 case policy is increasingly coming under stress as the country is reporting a spike in the number of coronavirus infections from different provinces ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games with over 2,500 people undergoing treatment.
The Wold Health Organisation has granted approval on June 1 to China's second COVID-19 vaccine, Sinovac, which was expected to strengthen China's vaccine diplomacy.
After recording the highest COVID-19 cases in Jilin, the authorities there have barred residents from leaving the province and travelling between cities within it.
Several videos have emerged on social media which showcased people chanting slogans against restrictions imposed by the Chinese government to curb the spread of Covid.
A senior citizen was mistaken for dead at an elderly care centre in Shanghai and sent to a morgue where he was found alive, prompting authorities to launch an investigation into the shocking incident that triggered a new wave of anguish in the locked down city.
China still faces an enormous challenge with a lack of immunity among a majority of Chinese, Dr Zhong Nanshan said.
Shanghai's single-day infection numbers also beat China's previous all-time high of 13,436 cases recorded in Wuhan on February 12, 2020, where the coronavirus outbreak first emerged.
China's national health commission said 39,452 new cases were reported on Monday, including 36,304 local asymptomatic cases, as authorities scrambled to contain the fresh surge in infections.
China reported 17,166 asymptomatic cases with a majority of them in Shanghai, China's business hub of 26 million.
The Chinese mainland on Thursday reported 3,472 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, besides 20,782 asymptomatic cases, according to the National Health Commission.
China has reported a spike in COVID-19 infections in Zhejiang Province which registered 138 locally-transmitted confirmed cases stated to be that of new Delta strain "sub-lineage AY.4", prompting authorities to bar millions of people in the eastern province from travelling.
As Covid-19 cases spiralled in China ahead of the next month's Beijing Winter Olympics, authorities effectively put Anyang under lockdown, the third city after Xian and Tianjin, confining over 20 million people to their homes to arrest the spread of the contagion.
Shenzhen which has been battling an Omicron surge since late February, will carry out three rounds of citywide COVID-19 tests next week.
Beijing's health officials on Monday announced 29 fresh cases taking the total cases to 70 in the city.
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