Chinese authorities confined this Sunday to nearly half a million inhabitants of the periphery of Beijing, an area hit since mid-June by a coronavirus outbreak that authorities describe as “serious and complex.”
The Asian country, which had practically contained the epidemic, registered the appearance of some 300 new cases in the Chinese capital in the span of just over two weeks, fueling fears of an imminent second wave of infections.
The regional government then launched an immense diagnostic campaign, closed schools and asked the people of Beijing not to leave the city, thus confining several thousand people in residential areas considered at risk.
The epidemic situation in the capital is serious and complex
Local authorities announced the total confinement of Anxin canton, located 60 kilometers south of Beijing, in the province of Hebei (north), where 11 cases related to the outbreak in Beijing were recorded, according to the semi-official newspaper. Global Times.
The measure implies, among other things, that only one person per household may go out once a day to buy food and medicine.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Ministry of Health reported 14 new cases in Beijing in the last 24 hours on Sunday, bringing the total to 311 since the start of this new outbreak, detected in the wholesale market in Xinfadi, in the south of the city. , which supplies fresh products mainly to supermarkets and restaurants.
About a third of the new cases reported so far are related to the section of the beef and lamb market, municipal authorities said at a press conference, the ANSA agency reports.
“The epidemic situation in the capital is serious and complex,” said Xu Hejian, a city spokesman, according to reports. Telam.
The diagnostic tests mainly affect those who frequented the market, restaurant employees, delivery people and residents of residential areas considered at risk.
In total, 8.3 million samples were taken and 7.7 million have been analyzed, the municipality announced Sunday.
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