China tightens COVID-19 restrictions in two cities ahead of Chinese New Year

BEIJING: Two Chinese cities south of Beijing further tightened COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday (Jan 9) as authorities race to stamp out a resurgence in infections.

Mainland China reported 33 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, down from 53 reported a day earlier. The National Health Commission said in a statement that 14 of the 17 locally transmitted infections were in Hebei. The commission also reported 38 new asymptomatic cases, down from 57 a day earlier. 

China does not classify these asymptomatic patients, who have been infected by the coronavirus but are not yet showing any COVID-19 symptoms, as confirmed cases.​

RESTRICTIONS IN HEBEI​​​​​​

A spike in the number of cases in the Hebei province, bordering Beijing, has sparked fresh lockdowns ahead of the Chinese New Year next month.

Hebei has reported more than 130 COVID-19 cases in the past week, with more than 200 asymptomatic infections.

READ: Beijing raises guard as COVID-19 cases rise in Hebei province

Most of the cases were in Shijiazhuang city, which along with its surrounding areas, is home to 11 million people. Several other infections were reported in neighbouring Xingtai city, home to 7 million.

Shijiazhuang suspended subway operations from Saturday morning to aid "prevention and control of the outbreak", authorities said. Earlier this week, authorities banned people from leaving the city in an effort to curb the spread of the disease.

Major highways leading into the city, around 300km south of Beijing, have already been closed and inter-city passenger travel halted.

Shijiazhuang is also launching mass testing across its population. On Friday, municipal authorities told residents they must stay home for at least seven days after they complete a nucleic acid test.

READ: China study says Wuhan COVID-19 infections 3 times higher than official figure

Overnight, Xingtai announced a week-long stay at home order to residents in order to curb its outbreak.

The curbs come ahead of the Chinese New Year, when hundreds of millions criss-cross China to visit family and friends, with National Health Commission vice minister Zeng Yixin warning on Saturday that the festival "will further boost the risk of transmission".

Authorities are racing to roll out vaccines, with more than 9 million doses given so far, Zeng added.

Health authorities recently gave conditional approval to a vaccine candidate by Chinese pharma giant Sinopharm, with emergency use jabs already administered in the later part of 2020.

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