Beijing, Mar 13: Coronavirus cases in China has hit two-year high as health officials have reported about 2,000 new infections in different parts of the country, including 20 in Beijing.

The Chinese mainland on Saturday reported 1,807 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 131 imported cases, China's National Health Commission said on Sunday.

Of the new local infections, 1,412 were reported in Jilin province, where China last Friday ordered a lockdown of the nine million residents of the provincial capital Changchun amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases in the area attributed to the highly contagious omicron variant.

Besides Changchun the latest lockdowns, also include Yucheng with 500,000 people in Shandong province.

The Commission reported that besides Jilin, 175 cases were reported in Shandong, 62 in Guangdong, 39 in Shaanxi, 33 in Hebei, 23 in Jiangsu, and 17 in Tianjin.

Beijing also reported 20 cases.

Meanwhile, the situation continue to deteriorate in Hong Kong where officials confirmed 27,647 new Covid-19 cases, including 11,858 positive, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Sunday.

The former British colony also reported COVID-related 87 deaths taking the overall toll to 3,729, the report said.

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New Delhi, Nov 21: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday launched the Karnataka Milk Federation's (KMF) Nandini brand milk products in the Delhi-NCR market, pricing them marginally lower than competitors to gain a foothold in the region.

The cooperative will retail four cow milk variants, curd, and buttermilk from Friday, with competitive pricing that undercuts established players like Mother Dairy and Amul.

Cow milk will be sold at Rs 56 per litre, full Cream Milk at Rs 67 per litre, Standardised Milk at Rs 61 per litre, Toned Milk at Rs 55 per litre, and curd at Rs 74 per kg.

"We have surplus milk in the state. KMF along with Mandya Milk Union will market surplus milk of 3-4 lakh litres per day in Delhi-NCR," Siddaramaiah told reporters after launching the products.

The federation currently collects 100 lakh litres of milk daily, with local consumption at 60 lakh litres, leaving a surplus of 40 lakh litres for expansion into new markets.

However, the Chief Minister acknowledged the challenges of transporting milk over 2,500 km, which takes 50-54 hours.

There is a need to find new markets for surplus milk and gradually the KMF should be able to sell 5-6 lakh litres per day in Delhi-NCR, he added.

KMF Chairman LBP Bheemanaik assured that milk quality would be maintained during transit.

The federation has already partnered with 40 dealers in the Delhi-NCR region to facilitate sales, he added.

With a robust infrastructure of 26.76 lakh milk producers, 15,737 dairy cooperative societies, and 15 district milk unions, KMF has a turnover of Rs 25,000 crore and exports dairy products to over 25 countries.

State Animal Husbandry Minister K Venkatesh and Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy were present at the product launch.