SHANGHAI:China reported the biggest rise in daily COVID-19 cases in more than five months on Thursday, driven by rising infections in Hebei province surrounding the capital Beijing.<br /> <br /> Hebei, which entered a "wartime mode" on Tuesday, accounted for 51 of the 52 local cases reported by the National Health Commission on Thursday. This compared with 20 cases reported in the province a day earlier.<br /> <br /> Total new COVID-19 cases for all of mainland China stood at 63, compared with 32 reported a day earlier, marking the biggest rise in daily cases since 127 cases were reported on July 30.<br /> <br /> The number of asymptomatic patients, who have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease but have yet to develop any symptoms, also rose to 79 from 64 a day earlier.<br /> <br /> The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China since the outbreak first started in the city of Wuhan in late 2019 now stands at 87,278 cases, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.<br /> <br /> Authorities in Shijiazhuang, Hebei's capital, where most of the new cases are located, have launched mass testing drives and banned gatherings to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.<br /> <br /> Travellers must present a negative nucleic acid COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours before boarding a train or an airplane in the province.<br /> <br /> In the city of Dalian in Liaoning province, which has reported local infections in recent days, residents in medium or high-risk areas have been barred from leaving the city. Residents in other areas were told to refrain from unnecessary trips out of Dalian.<br /> <br /> Authorities in Guangdong province late on Wednesday reported a patient infected with a more transmissible variant of the coronavirus discovered in South Africa.<br /> <br /> Some scientists worry that COVID-19 vaccines currently being rolled out may not be able to protect against this variant because of certain mutations that have been observed.