Strict zero covid strategy
China seals off another metropolis – because of three corona cases
China, Xi’an. Volunteers visit the people in lockdown to provide them with food and other necessary items.
© Uncredited / CHINATOPIX / AP / DPA
China has been taking radical action against new corona outbreaks since the beginning of the pandemic. Now another megacity has been put into lockdown – shortly before the Olympic Winter Games begin in Beijing in February.
Three corona cases had been discovered in the Chinese metropolis of Yuzhou in the past few days. Thereupon the city with 1.17 million inhabitants was cordoned off without further ado. Since Monday evening, people across central China’s Henan Province have been banned from leaving their homes. There are only a few exceptions, and mass tests have been ordered for the entire population. Local authorities announced that strict compliance with the curfew would be monitored by guards.
China is pursuing a strict zero-Covid strategy
Similar measures have been in place for almost two weeks in the Chinese metropolis of Xi’an, where the lockdown is only to be lifted when there are no more new infections. Xi’an has had more than 1,600 cases of infection since December 9, but the number of new infections there has been declining in the past few days.
China, which has a zero-covid policy, has largely got the virus under control. For more than a year, the pandemic situation in the People’s Republic has been much better than in many other countries. 108 new corona cases were reported nationwide on Tuesday, most of them in Xi’an. Compared to the previous week, however, the new infections there have decreased somewhat. Authorities are keen to contain the virus before the Beijing Winter Olympics begin in February.