A worker in protective gear talks to visitors lining the outside of a building that was closed after a case of coronavirus was detected
Highlight
- China’s Shenzhen city, with a population of more than 17 million, was the latest to be shut down due to Covid.
- Shanghai asked the people of the city not to move out.
- The sharp increase in cases was the highest since the first outbreak in Wuhan.
China’s high-tech city of Shenzhen, which has a population of more than 17 million, was the latest to lock down to control a surge of COVID-19 cases, as the government tried to contain the worst outbreak of virus cases in the past two years. scrambled for.
China Daily reported on Sunday that due to the latest COVID-19 outbreak, Shenzhen will seal all communities, villages and suspend bus and subway services from Monday to Sunday.
Shenzhen which has been battling an Omicron surge since late February will conduct three rounds of COVID-19 tests across the city next week.
In a statement, city officials urged residents to work from home and step out only to shop for daily necessities.
The National Health Commission reported on Sunday that after 1,000 new cases were reported in China for two consecutive days, new cases of local infection in China have increased to more than 3,100. This is the highest in two years.
Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported that all outbound travelers to Shenzhen must submit negative nucleic acid test results within the past 24 hours.
The situation is such that China is on the verge of its biggest COVID-19 crisis since Wuhan, the Post’s report said.
The coronavirus first broke out in Wuhan in December 2019 before spreading to almost all parts of the world, which has claimed over 6 million lives so far.
Significantly, cases are increasing in China when most countries are opening after a decrease in cases.
China’s zero COVID-19 case policy has come under stress over the past few weeks as new cases continue to emerge in several cities, including Shanghai and Beijing.
It came as 16 provinces reported new coronavirus infections, as did four mega-cities – Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing.
The Post reports that some local health officials have attributed the increase to the Omicron variant, which is more transmissible but produces less severe symptoms than the original COVID-19 virus.
Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chunlan on Saturday urged areas facing severe epidemic outbreaks to clear COVID-19 cases among the general public in the shortest possible time.
As part of its COVID-19 responses, China has added antigen detection as an alternative to COVID-19 testing among the public, in an effort to promote early detection of COVID-19 cases.
Shanghai has asked people in the city not to leave and those who do must have a certificate for a negative nucleic acid test result 48 hours before departure, Xinhua reported.
The big jump in cases came after a top Chinese official claimed on March 4 that China was one of the best performers in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic and attributed its success to restricting national and international travel. Given its rigid zero-case policy. Lockdown wherever the virus surfaced.
China’s dynamic zero-COVID approach has worked in the country’s context, Zhang Yesui, a spokesman for the country’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, told the media.
Meanwhile, the situation is deteriorating in Hong Kong, where authorities have confirmed 27,647 new Covid-19 cases, including 11,858 positive, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Sunday.
The former British colony also reported 87 COVID-related deaths, taking the total toll to 3,729, the report said.
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