China seals off two cities following COVID outbreaks
January 8, 2021
Almost 20 million people living near the capital Beijing are now under strict lockdown as China witnesses its largest coronavirus outbreak since the summer.
China has prevented earlier outbreaks through strict controls and large-scale testingImage: Mu Yu/Xinhua/AP/picture alliance
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Chinese authorities imposed strict measures on two cities in Hebei province, just south of Beijing, on Friday in order to curb a new outbreak of coronavirus.
Almost 20 million people were barred from leaving the cities of Shijiazhuang and Xingtai as the country raced to take control of the largest outbreak of COVID-19 cases since the virus was first discovered in Wuhan in 2019.
The Hebei province recorded 127 new cases in the past week, as well as 183 asymptomatic infections, most of which were in the two large cities.
Wuhan: A year after the coronavirus outbreak
In early 2020, the city of Wuhan in China's Hubei province became infamous as the first coronavirus hot spot in the world. Life has picked up again, but the situation is not as it was.
Image: Aly Song/REUTERS
Shoulder to shoulder in crowded markets
Wuhan was locked down for about 11 weeks after becoming the first global coronavirus hot spot. Until mid-May, 50,000 of the 80,000 official cases in China were in Wuhan. But now life is almost back to normal on the city's crowded street markets.
Image: Aly Song/REUTERS
Dancing in the streets
During the lockdown, residents were not even allowed to leave their homes. Now, they can even dance together in the park. According to the Reuters news agency, there have been no local transmissions of the virus for months now.
Image: Aly Song/REUTERS
Ground zero for the coronavirus?
Vegetables, fish, and meat — even wild animals — all used to be for sale at this wet market. But it closed its doors on January 1, 2020 after a mysterious lung disease started spreading and its origin was traced to the market. Scientists have not yet determined the market's exact role in spreading the virus, if it had one at all.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/N. Celis
Restaurateurs' livelihoods at risk
Before the pandemic, Lai Yun used to find most of the products for his Japanese restaurant at the covered market. "I would send the kids to school, have breakfast and then go to the market," says the 38-year-old. Since re-opening in June, he has to go elsewhere — and some of the ingredients he needs now cost five times more. "Our aim for next year is simply to survive," he told DW.
Image: Aly Song/REUTERS
No more fresh goods
Though the wet market on the ground floor is still closed, the second floor has re-opened. But most of the stores sell glasses and other specialty products for opticians. "Some people might have a weird feeling, but it's only an empty building now," one of the saleswomen, who did not give her name, told DW.
Image: Aly Song/REUTERS
Vendors move to the streets
Since the market closed down, some people have started selling meat and other fresh goods on the streets. Even if the sellers here are wearing masks and gloves, some say the conditions fall short of certain hygiene standards. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the covered market hall was criticized for its poor health and sanitation regulations.
Image: Aly Song/REUTERS
An unmasked clown
Most Wuhan residents wear masks in public, particularly as the coronavirus has not disappeared and there have been a number of new cases elsewhere in China. "Many people are beginning to hoard masks, disinfectant and other protective equipment," 29-year-old English teacher Yen told DW.
Image: Aly Song/REUTERS
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In response, authorities promised to "strictly control the movement of people and vehicles" and placed residential areas under "closed management," a euphemism for lockdown.
Residents were also banned from entering the capital, Beijing, or leaving Hebei unless absolutely necessary.
Large-scale plan to tackle the outbreak
Some 33 new cases were reported in Hebei on Friday, with 51 recorded the previous day, bringing the number of infections up to an amount not seen since July.
Authorities also said on Friday that they had tested 6.7 million residents of the two sealed cities so far.
Pictures were also published of health workers giving jabs of the Chinese-produced Sinopharm vaccine — the vaccine was recently approved with a 79% efficiency rate.
Three local officials were also punished for negligence in virus control as Beijing increased pressure on regional authorities to prevent a potentially deadly outbreak.
China faces toned-down new year festivities
Despite being the origin of the virus, China was able to effectively curb infections and keep further outbreaks — which the government has linked to imported cases from travellers and products — to a minimum.
"The outbreak was imported from abroad, but the exact origins are currently under in-depth investigation by state, provincial and municipal experts," said Li Qi, head of the Hebei Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, at a press briefing Friday.
The new measures were a cause for concern for those looking forward to large-scale celebrations of the upcoming lunar new year which runs from February 11 to 17.
Authorities have already hinted at low key festivities this year, effectively ending hopes of banquets, parties and public celebrations.
"Mass celebrations, gatherings and fairs are forbidden," said Kang Sen, of Beijing's agriculture and rural affairs authority over state media.
