Frustration in China: anti-lockdown protests 1:03
(CNN) --
At least 27 Chinese cities are under full or partial lockdowns due to COVID-19, which could be affecting as many as 165 million residents across the country, according to CNN estimates.
In a briefing held on Wednesday afternoon, Beijing authorities indicated that 46 local cases of covid-19 had been identified in the 24 hours between 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, raising the number total infections to 138 since April 22, the date the outbreak was first detected.
It is unknown if and how many of these 46 new cases were included in the data released early Wednesday by the country's National Health Commission.
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More than half of Beijing's total cases have been detected in the largest district, Chaoyang, and nearly a third have been in students, according to officials.
On Wednesday, Chaoyang held its second round of mass testing.
A third round is scheduled for Friday.
Why, if the vaccine already exists, does China insist on confinement?
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China's capital Beijing tested nearly 20 million residents in 12 districts this week, after expanding mass testing due to rising cases.
Currently, 5 areas of the city have been designated as high risk and 16 as medium risk.
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For their part, authorities in the northeastern cities of Changchun and Jilin said lockdowns will be gradually eased from Thursday after more than a month of restrictions that have prevented residents from leaving their homes.
The two cities, with a combined population of more than 13.5 million, were locked down respectively on March 11 and 21.
Since the beginning of March, more than 70,000 local cases have been registered between the two cities.
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