Travel restrictions were placed on nearly half a million people near Beijing on Thursday as authorities rushed to contain a fresh outbreak of the coronavirus with a mass test-and-trace effort and lockdowns in parts of the Chinese capital.
Another 21 cases of the virus were reported in the past 24 hours in Beijing, the National Health Commission said, taking the total to 158 since a fresh cluster was detected last week after months of no confirmed local transmissions.
One case was also recorded in the neighbouring city of Tianjin and two more in Hebei province — which surrounds Beijing — prompting travel restrictions on Anxin county, home to nearly half a million people, banning most traffic going in and out of the area.
Essential service vehicles are allowed into Anxin, about 150 km from Beijing, while private and government cars can enter and leave only if they have permission, state media said.
Beijing is collecting around 4,00,000 samples a day for testing amid fears the new outbreak could trigger a second wave of infections in China, which had largely brought the contagion under control since it emerged in Wuhan late last year.
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