China is keeping its guard up as its latest surge of Covid-19 cases enters its fourth week, with calls from officials to close containment loopholes unlikely to see cities easing strict virus control measures, reports Reuters.

China has reported 83 new locally transmitted cases, the health authority has reported, bringing the cumulative number of new infections in the past week to 583.

This is an increase of 85.1 per cent in the total number of local cases from a week earlier. The rate is almost unchanged from the 87.5pc surge seen the previous week, which officials say has been mainly driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant.