SHANGHAI: Mainland China reported 2,286 new symptomatic COVID-19 infections on Dec. 16, compared with 2,157 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said on Saturday.

Excluding imported infections, China reported 2,229 new local symptomatic cases, up from 2,091 a day earlier.

China stopped reporting asymptomatic cases from Wednesday, citing a lack of testing among people with no symptoms that was making it difficult to accurately tally the total count.

There were no new deaths, compared with none the previous day, keeping fatalities at 5,235.

As of Dec. 16, mainland China had confirmed 376,361 cases with symptoms.

‘Go all out’: China prepares for infection spread after COVID policy U-turn

Official figures have become an unreliable guide as less testing is being done across the country following the recent easing of zero-COVID policies.

China has jettisoned some of the world’s toughest anti-COVID curbs and is now experiencing a spike in infections, with fears COVID could sweep across its 1.4 billion population during next month’s Lunar New Year holiday.