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BEIJING: Two Chinese cities south of Beijing further tightened COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday (Jan 9) as authorities rush to stamp out the resurgence of infections.
Mainland China reported 33 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, up from 53 reported a day earlier. The National Health Commission said in a statement that 14 of the 17 locally transmitted infections were in Hebei. The commission also reported 38 new asymptomatic cases, up from 57 the day before.
China does not classify these asymptomatic patients, who have been infected by the coronavirus but do not yet show any symptoms of COVID-19, as confirmed cases.
RESTRICTIONS IN HEBEI
An increase in the number of cases in Hebei province, bordering Beijing, has prompted new closures ahead of Chinese New Year next month.
Hebei has reported more than 130 COVID-19 cases in the last week, with more than 200 asymptomatic infections.
LEE: Beijing raises its guard as COVID-19 cases increase in Hebei province
Most of the cases occurred in the city of Shijiazhuang, which along with its surroundings, is home to 11 million people. Several other infections were reported in the neighboring city of Xingtai, home to 7 million.
Shijiazhuang suspended subway operations from Saturday morning to help “prevent and control the outbreak,” authorities said. Earlier this week, authorities banned people from leaving the city in an effort to slow the spread of the disease.
The main roads leading to the city, about 300 kilometers south of Beijing, have already been closed and passenger travel between cities has been stopped.
Shijiazhuang is also launching massive tests across its entire population. On Friday, city officials told residents they had to stay home for at least seven days after completing a nucleic acid test.
READ: A study from China says Wuhan’s COVID-19 infections are 3 times higher than the official figure
Overnight, Xingtai announced a week-long stay-at-home order to residents to curb his outbreak.
The restrictions come before the Chinese New Year, when hundreds of millions cross China to visit family and friends, and the Vice Minister of the National Health Commission, Zeng Yixin, warned on Saturday that the festival “will further increase the risk of transmission. “.
Authorities are rushing to launch vaccines, with more than 9 million doses administered so far, Zeng added.
Health authorities recently gave conditional approval to a candidate vaccine from Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm, with injections for emergency use already administered in the latter part of 2020.
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