To contain a significant COVID-19 outbreak, the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou closed down its main district on Monday, suspended public transportation, and required residents to provide a negative test in order to leave their houses.
The outbreak is putting China’s efforts to implement its zero-COVID rules more specifically to the test as it deals with various outbreaks caused by quickly proliferating omicron strains. China is the only large nation still making an effort to stop the spread of viruses with stringent shutdown procedures and widespread testing.
Guangzhou’s 3.7 million-person Baiyun area likewise closed off institutions and canceled in-person classes. The city stated that the restrictions would be in effect through Friday.
Beijing’s capital reported two further deaths associated with COVID-19 in the meanwhile. The city announced the first COVID-19 death in China in six months on Sunday.
Beijing officials said at a press conference that beginning on Tuesday, visitors from outside the city would have to stay at home for three days and undergo three consecutive negative drug tests before being permitted to leave, according to a report online from state broadcaster CCTV.
While some have questioned China’s COVID-19 figures, particularly its death toll, its aggressive approach to infection control has prevented large-scale outbreaks and kept the number of new cases daily lower than in many other nations.
Lei Haichao, the deputy head of the National Health Commission, explained that some restrictions were eased to make the regulations more “scientific and exact.”
Some of the tested measures are still being used in larger cities, albeit less comprehensively than they had previously when they had shut down entire cities.
The inhabitants of six districts in the northern Hebei province city of Shijiazhuang are being tested. Authorities in Beijing’s Haidian district, which is home to the city’s innovation hub and leading institutions, said Sunday night that physical classes at primary and secondary schools would be canceled.
Out of a total of 27,095 cases nationwide, Guangdong province, which is home to Guangzhou, recorded the newest cases on Monday with 9,085 instances.
