Last Updated on June 29, 2020, 7:33 AM AST by Anthony Morris
As the number of deaths by the coronavirus worldwide passed 500,000, China is not risking any chances of a second wave of the disease gripping the country, despite having mostly contained the outbreak in the country in the recent months.
China has placed about 400,000 people under strict lockdown in Anxin county, in the province of Hebei, near Beijing, after only 18 new cases of the disease were discovered there.
Chinese officials have said in a statement on Sunday that all the villages, communities and buildings will be closed entirely in Anxin.
Families are permitted to send only one person outside per household for purchasing supplies once a day and all outside vehicles will be banned.
Anxin is located about 150 kilometres (90 miles) south from Beijing, where a small outbreak of the virus was met with “wartime” measures this month.
A cluster of cases had been linked to a fresh produce market in the southwest of the capital in mid-June. As it came to light that the infections had already spread to the nearby provinces of Liaoning and Hebei, there was widespread alarm over the chances of a second wave of the virus across China.
Authorities imposed a lockdown quickly on 11 residential compounds which were in the vicinity of the market and prohibited anyone from entering or leaving these compounds. The temperatures of the residents are checked and reported daily, and their food and daily necessities are delivered to them.
Beijing has also rolled out a mass nucleic acid testing for the COVID-19 coronavirus and has set up 193 sample booths all over the city.
Over 76,000 people were tested within 48 hours after the cluster was detected.
China’s top respiratory expert Dr Zhong Nanshan had warned in May that China was still facing the challenge of a potential return of the virus, and authorities should be ready.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
