Tens of thousands of people in northern China are confined to their homes as authorities try to stop an incipient covid-19 outbreak, one hundred days before the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
They also restricted access to tourist spots and advised residents to limit their movements unless necessary, despite normal public transport.
China identified 39 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday and more than 100 in the past week. Most of these infections were related to the movements of a group of tourists.
Despite the fact that the number of new cases is low compared to countries in the rest of the world, the Chinese government, which promotes a policy of “zero tolerance” towards the virus, reacted quickly, imposing restrictions and organizing mass detection campaigns in the affected regions.
In Beijing, where the Winter Olympics on February 4, a marathon scheduled for October 31 in which some 30,000 runners were to participate was indefinitely postponed.
It was postponed “to avoid the risk of epidemic transmission,” the organizers said.
Authorities ordered about 23,000 residents of a housing complex in Changping District to remain indoors after detecting nine cases in recent days, local Beijing News reported.
The photos showed officials in special hazardous substances uniforms guarding the entrances to each apartment block, while the perimeter was blocked by metal barricades.
In a press conference, the Vice Minister of Advertising, Xu Hejian, pointed out that anyone from an area where they have been identified Covid-19 cases in the last two weeks must present a negative test.
Too parks, theaters, cinemas, museums are restricted and other sites that are covered at least 75% of their capacity, in addition to mahjong rooms.
They also asked residents to avoid “unnecessary” trips out of town and large-scale gatherings.
“Massive tests”
The new cases of Covid-19 They have been detected in eleven provinces, mostly located in the north of the country.
In Ejin, a city in Inner Mongolia in the north of the country, about 35,000 people were confined as of Monday for a period of two weeks.
Health authorities warned that new outbreaks could emerge as tests intensify in the coming days to combat the outbreak, which is related to a group of domestic tourists who traveled through the country.
In some northern cities, including Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, bus and taxi services were suspended and tourist spots closed.
On Sunday, the authorities had already announced the suspension of organized tourist trips to five areas where cases of Covid-19, including Beijing.
In the city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected in late 2019, organizers of a marathon on Sunday canceled the competition in which more than 26,000 participants were expected to participate.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx