Provincial governments across China have asked people to stay put over the upcoming holiday periods, implementing new restrictions amid reports of several new local infections.Capital Beijing’s Shunyi district, where two confirmed cases were found, has entered the “state of war” as many asymptomatic cases have also been reported in this week in the district. Capital city has introduced some of the strictest measures, ordering all employees of ministries and central state organs and institutions to stay in the city for the duration of the New Year festivities and Lunar New Year holiday in February. Everyone else in the capital will have to abide by strict travel controls, which include restrictions on the number of people allowed to use public transport, including trains, planes, buses and the underground. Lunar New Year events will be downsized or cancelled, while libraries, museums, parks and other venues will open only for visits by appointment during the holiday period, the government said.
State media reported that emergency measures such as closed management, disinfection and large-scale testing have been implemented in affected areas. Five close contacts of two cases in Shunyi have also been tested positive. Officials fear more cases in future amid the holidays season. Authorities in other parts of the country, including Liaoning, Shannxi and Guangdong provinces, have also advised people against non-essential travel outside their hometowns and cities. China’s National Health Commission reported 20 confirmed cases, eight local and 12 imported on Friday.
Apart from these, 19 asymptomatic cases were also reported which China does not count in confirmed cases. Of the eight locally transmitted confirmed cases, six were in Liaoning province, in the northeast of the country. Authorities have shut schools and all public spaces in five neighbourhood divisions in Dalian in Liaoning, and only essential workers can leave their compounds to go to work. Dalian had tested over 4.75 million people for the coronavirus after 24 confirmed infections this month. China has now reported a total of 86,933 confirmed mainland cases, with 4,634 deaths.
