China had previously declared the coronavirus pandemic in Beijing under its control. However, a new infection cluster in the capital and nearby Hebei province has been recorded, prompting immediate action to control the spread of covid-19 into neighboring regions.
Health authorities, on Sunday, said that Anxin County would be “fully enclosed and controlled” due to the instances of sprouting covid-19 cases in the district.
Anxin is 150 kilometers (90 miles) away from Beijing.
According to health officials, only one-person-per-household will only be allowed to go out once a day to buy necessities.
The decision to employ a lockdown in the region was due to the local outbreak recorded in Beijing.
Beijing recorded 14 cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, spiking the total infections to 311 since the outbreak began.
The Beijing outbreak is attributed to the Xinfadi market, which provides the city with produce.
The outbreak recorded in the market prompted concerns on the safety of the food supply chain.
On Sunday, city health officials said that nearly a third of the cases had been linked to a beef section in the market.
Workers in the sections mentioned above have been told to quarantine for a month.
Anxin County may be connected to the local outbreak in Beijing, as Anxin supplies the Xinfadi market with freshwater fish.
According to reports, twelve cases of persons with the virus were recorded in Anxin, 11 of which have links to the Xinfadi market.
The sudden spike of cases in Beijing caused concerns about the resurgence of the virus in China.
Beijing Municipal Government Spokesperson Xu Heijan told reporters on Sunday:
“The epidemic situation in the capital is severe and complicated.”
However, Mr. Xu’s comment on the severity of the Beijing cases last week were quite different:
“The Beijing epidemic directly linked to Xinfadi (market) is basically under control, but at the same time, we have discovered household and workplace cluster infections and cases of community transmission. The chief epidemiology expert at the Chinese Center for Disease Control, Wu Zunyou, also stated that the new Beijing outbreak has been “brought under control.”
Beijing officials have urged their citizens not to leave the city. They have also closed schools and locked down dozens of residential compounds to stifle the spread of the virus.
Source: MSN/AFP
