The Chinese authorities have isolated two cities south of Beijing and cut the land roads leading to them, preventing millions of citizens from leaving them, as they seek to stop the largest outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in six months.
The authorities say that they have so far managed to control the epidemic on a large scale, since it was first detected in Wuhan at the end of 2019. And it succeeded quickly in eliminating limited foci by conducting mass checks and imposing local closures and restrictions on movement. However, the Hebei provincial authorities recorded 127 new cases of Covid-19, in addition to 183 cases without symptoms, last week.
The vast majority of injuries were recorded in the city of Shijiazhuang, which has several million people in Hebei, whose total population of surrounding areas reaches 11 million. There have also been nine confirmed cases in Xingtai, which has a population of seven million.
And all cars and citizens were banned from leaving the two cities, except in the case of extreme necessity, Hebei authorities announced Friday. The officials pledged to conduct “strict control of the movement of people and cars,” with all residential areas under “closed management,” a phrase intended to be closed. People in Hebei were also prohibited from entering Beijing or leaving the region, unless absolutely necessary.
“The outbreaks are imported from abroad, but state, provincial and municipal experts are conducting an in-depth investigation to find out the origin,” Lee Ki, head of the Hebei Epidemic Control Center, said in a press conference Friday. Chinese officials often try to link new local infection hotspots with strains of the virus spreading abroad, considering that they entered China from returning travelers and contaminated imported food packaging.
Concern is mounting over plans for hundreds of millions of people to travel to mark the Lunar Year, as celebrations are feared due to the virus. Officials began referring to a non-noisy holiday, which will run from February 11 to 17, without the possibility of holding banquets, parties and public celebrations. “Collective celebrations, gatherings and exhibitions are prohibited,” said Kang Sen of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Authority, adding that “even funerals should be brief,” stressing the need for prior approval for all public events.
It appears that his statements, reported by state media, are directed at villages in areas around the capital, not the city itself. And measures were tightened in the two cities located in Hebei province on Friday. Long-distance passenger service was suspended in the two cities, and highways were closed. Official CCTV footage showed citizens being tested for the virus by health workers in protective clothing, at local centers in Shijiazhuang, with long queues in front of the centers.
And the anti-virus teams spread on the highways leading to the city, on which checkpoints were set up, as the photos published on Thursday showed. And on Friday, Hebei province reported 33 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, in addition to 51 cases on Thursday, bringing the daily toll nationwide to the highest number in five months.
So far, nearly 6.7 million people in the two cities have been tested, officials announced Friday. Pictures of employees vaccinating citizens with the newly approved Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, which has a 79% effectiveness, have spread. And disciplinary measures were imposed on three officials from Gaucheng District, the most affected area in the city, and the center of the last outbreak, due to seemingly negligence in combating the virus, in an indication of the pressure that local authorities are under to eliminate the virus wherever it appears.
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