China partially confines Ningbo city after finding 23 cases Covid-19

Beijing, Jan 4 (EFE).- Chinese authorities Tuesday confined parts of the port city of Ningbo, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, after detecting a Covid-19 outbreak that infected 23 people in recent days.

It is the second Chinese city to launch a lockdown this winter after Xi’an, which registered 1,663 infections since December.

The 23 cases in Ningbo, of 9 million inhabitants, were found in a garment workshop, according to state newspaper the Global Times, and correspond to the delta variant of the coronavirus.

Authorities decided Tuesday that residents won’t be able to leave their homes in specific areas, such as the Beilun district, while movement will be limited in other areas.

“Of the 23 cases, 19 have mild symptoms and the other four moderate. The source of infection is still unknown,” said a local Ningbo official on Tuesday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

To date, China has developed a zero tolerance strategy against the coronavirus, which involves strict entry controls into the country with quarantines of up to three weeks and numerous tests, as well as tests and selective confinement in places where regrowth is detected.

According to the report issued Tuesday by the health authorities, China registered 175 new confirmed cases Monday – 108 due to local contagion and 67 from abroad – and there are currently 3,256 active infected, of which 30 remain in serious condition.

Of the 108 new local infections diagnosed Monday, eight were located in Zhejiang.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, officials said 102,841 people have been infected in China, of whom 94,949 have been cured and 4,636 died. EFE

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