Chinese province locks down 1.7 million people due to Covid-19 Coronavirus
China has recorded 225,923 cases of Covid-19, of which 220,165 have recovered and 5,226 have died, 532 are mild and moderate symptoms are being treated, and no severe cases, according to real-time statistics site Worldometers.
1.7 million residents in two districts of Anhui province have been barred from leaving their homes after last week’s outbreak.
Linh Bich and Quai, two districts in central China’s Anhui province, last weekend began imposing a blockade, forcing 1.7 million residents to stay indoors and only take to the streets when they go for nCoV tests.
Images released by China’s state broadcaster CCTV showed the streets of The Quad district empty, while long lines of people waited in line for their turn to be tested.
China’s National Health Commission said Anhui province today recorded 287 new infections, of which 258 were asymptomatic, bringing the total number of new infections to more than 1,000.
Governor AnHui Vuong Thanh Hiến called on local authorities to “take every minute and seriously implement rapid screening”, quickly quarantine and continuously report the number of infections.
Neighboring Jiangsu province also reported 56 new infections across four cities.
Chinese authorities have remained steadfast in their “no covid” policy on the grounds that health disasters are prevented because resources are unevenly distributed and vaccination rates among the elderly remain low.
Several small cities in eastern China, such as Yiwu and Wuxi, have also reported cases in recent days, as China’s economy begins to recover from a prolonged blockade in the financial hub of Shanghai and strict restrictions in the capital, Beijing.