The mainland reported zero new Covid-19 deaths for December 21, the same as the previous day, the National Health Commission said on Thursday.

The country reported 2,966 new local Covid cases, down from 3,049 a day earlier.

Severe cases rose by 45 across the nation on Wednesday, the commission said, versus an increase of 53 the previous day.

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

The latest figures were announced after remarks by the head of the World Health Organization, who said the agency is “very concerned” about rising reports of severe coronavirus disease across the nation.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the mainland’s vaccination rate as lagging at a briefing, and warned it could result in large numbers of vulnerable people getting infected.

At the same briefing, the WHO’s emergencies chief, Michael Ryan, said mainland authorities have made “massive progress” on getting people vaccinated.

“In such a large population, with so many people in a vulnerable setting, with that coverage, we really have to focus on vaccination. Having said that, China made massive progress over the last number of weeks in actually rolling vaccines out."

A leading Chinese health expert had warned on Tuesday that the capital will face a surge in cases over the next two weeks, which will continue until the end of January.

"We must act quickly and prepare fever clinics, emergency and severe treatment resources," Wang Guangfa, a respiratory expert from Peking University First Hospital, told the Global Times newspaper. (Agencies)