China says tracking Covid cases now 'impossible' as infections soar

The true scale of Covid-19 infections in China is now "impossible" to track, the country's top health body said, as officials warned of a rapid spread in Beijing after the country abruptly dropped its zero-tolerance policy.

China last week loosened restrictions for mass testing and quarantine after nearly three years of attempting to stamp out the virus, prompting officially reported infections to fall quickly from the all-time highs recorded last month.

And with testing no longer required for much of the country, China's National Health Commission admitted its numbers no longer reflected reality.

"Many asymptomatic people are no longer participating in nucleic acid testing, so it is impossible to accurately grasp the actual number of asymptomatic infected people," the NHC said in a statement.

The statement comes after Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said the capital's new infections were "rapidly growing", according to a state media readout.

Chinese leaders are determined to press ahead with opening up, with Beijing's tourism authorities saying that it would resume tour groups in and out of the capital.

As the country steers a tricky path out of its zero-Covid policy towards living with the virus, many with symptoms have opted to self-medicate at home.

Residents of Beijing have complained of sold-out cold medicines and long lines at pharmacies, while Chinese search giant Baidu said that searches for fever-reducing Ibuprofen had risen 430 percent over the past week.