China hits 11 million city with strict restrictions as more than 100 COVID cases discovered

Beijing – Travel was restricted to a city of 11 million people in northern China and schools were closed while authorities acted on Wednesday to exterminate a group of COVID-19 cases after more than 100 infections were confirmed.

Ten major highways leading to the city of Shijiazhuang, about 320 kilometers south of Beijing, have been closed and a bus terminal has been closed in an attempt to prevent the virus from spreading beyond the city in Hebei province.

The Chinese state newspaper Global Times said all sales of train tickets from neighboring Hebei province to the capital were suspended and the Shijiazhuang long-distance bus station closed while authorities declared Hebei in “war mode” against the virus. .

There were 117 cases in the city, including at least 63 more recorded on Wednesday. A total of 78 of the cases were asymptomatic, which led to mass testing across the affected area.

Unlike much of the world, China has largely controlled the virus through rigid blocks and travel restrictions. But there have been a number of local outbreaks in recent weeks, which has led to mass testing and targeted blockades.

The village of Xiaoguozhuang within the city limits has been classified as a “high risk” and isolated district.

Health officials said that all 40,000 residents in that district were tested for the virus.

State TV showed villagers being tested by officials in protective suits against hazardous materials and protective equipment, with roadblocks administered by police and doctors.

All schools in Shijiazhuang have been closed.

State broadcaster CCTV showed teams of health professionals spraying disinfectant on the streets and said an emergency team of medical professionals had been sent to the city.

More than 400,000 residents of another nearby city, Nangong, were also tested, officials said.

The Global Times quoted Feng Zijian, deputy head of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, telling state television on Tuesday that the COVID-19 strain that causes Hebei cases was imported, “most likely from Europe” , according to Vezes.

Feng said tests were underway to confirm which variant of the disease came from Hebei and where it came from. In late 2020, a new highly infectious strain of coronavirus appeared in southeastern England, which is now guilty of a huge increase in infections across the UK, British officials said the variant is between 50% and 70% easier to pass from one person to another.

South Africa has also identified a new strain of the disease, which is also considered to be more infectious than those that have circulated widely around the world for a year, and which may prove to be resistance to current vaccine formulas being released.

Beijing is rushing to vaccinate millions before the race for Lunar New Year next month.