3rd Chinese city under lockdown after latest Covid-19 outbreak

Beijing, Oct 29 (EFE).- The authorities in the northern Chinese city of Heihe Friday ordered a lockdown due to the latest outbreak of Covid-19 that has already led to the closure of two other cities.

In a statement published on the social network WeChat, the Heihe authorities said some city areas were at “medium risk” of contagion.

The city of 1.5 million residents near the border with Russia joins Ejin (in the north) and Lanzhou (in the center) confined for the last few days due to a nationwide outbreak that has infected more than 340 people.

The government has banned mass gatherings and ordered only one person from a family to go outside every two days to buy essentials.

The government has also made fever checks mandatory for people entering public spaces.

They also need to install a Covid-19 monitoring application on mobile phones to check that a person is not infected or has not been in contact with infected people.

The local government, which has also restricted road traffic as a part of the lockdown, said city people needed to prepare to “fight a difficult battle.”

The authorities have detected only ten positive cases in Heihe Wednesday and hope that the lockdown measures will nip the spread in the bud.

The current outbreak occurred in mid-October.

According to health authorities, the highly infectious Delta variant of the virus caused the outbreak.

The Chinese authorities have administered more than 2.25 billion doses of vaccines to people across the country.

However, the authorities continue with their zero-tolerance policy towards the coronavirus.

They have ordered selective confinements and massive coronavirus tests in the areas where cases appear.

According to the National Health Commission, more than 97,000 have tested positive for the virus in China.

The disease has claimed 4,636 lives in the country. EFE

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