China reports 268 new COVID cases on July 1 vs 245 day earlier

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Mainland China reported 268 new COVID-19 cases for July 1, of which 72 were symptomatic and 196 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Saturday.

That compares with 245 new cases a day earlier - 37 symptomatic and 208 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately.

There were no new deaths, keeping the nation's death toll since the pandemic began at 5,226.

As of Friday, mainland China had confirmed 225,747 cases with symptoms.

China's capital, Beijing, and financial centre, Shanghai, reported no new local symptomatic or asymptomatic cases, the same as the previous day, according to data from the local governments.

The eastern provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu are being hit by COVID clusters at the start of China's summer travel season, with 135 and 30 local cases reported, respectively, for Friday.

In response, Jiangsu's Wuxi city suspended operation of all bus routes from Saturday, while Lianyungang started mass testing for residents in some areas of the city.

The Delta variant hit eastern China including Jiangsu last summer, leading to congestion at China's major container ports.

(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and William Mallard)