New outbreak shuts schools, flights canceled
Print Edition
HUNDREDS of flights were canceled yesterday, schools closed and mass testing is on in many Chinese cities to stamp out a new COVID-19 outbreak linked to a group of tourists.
The Chinese mainland on Wednesday reported 13 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said in its daily report yesterday.
Of the new local cases, five were reported in Gansu, four in Ningxia, and two each in Inner Mongolia and Hubei, the commission said.
Domestic outbreaks have largely been eliminated, but as China logged a fifth straight day of new cases — mostly in northern and northwestern areas — authorities beefed up coronavirus controls.
The latest outbreak was linked to an elderly couple who were in a group of several tourists.
They started in Shanghai before flying to Xi’an, Gansu Province and Inner Mongolia.
Dozens of cases have since been linked to their travel, with close contacts in at least five provinces and regions, including the capital Beijing.
In response, local governments have rolled out mass testing and closed scenic spots and tourist sites, schools and entertainment venues in affected areas, and also imposed targeted lockdowns of housing compounds.
Some regions, including Lanzhou, a city of some four million people in northwestern China, have told residents not to leave unless necessary.
Those who need to leave must present a negative COVID-19 test.
Lanzhou suspended in-person classes for kindergartens, primary and high schools and off-campus training institutions from yesterday for COVID-19 control.
Vocational middle schools and colleges in the city have been put under closed-off management, the Lanzhou education department said in a circular released on Wednesday night.
The move aims to beef up anti-epidemic measures to protect the lives and health of residents, the circular stated, adding that resumption of classes is subject to further notice.
Airports in the affected regions have canceled hundreds of flights, according to data from aviation tracker VariFlight.
Around 60 percent of flights to the two main airports in Xi’an and Lanzhou have been canceled.
Gansu Province has registered a total of 15 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and one asymptomatic case since new local infections were reported on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, local authorities temporarily closed three popular grottoes including the Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage site, to visitors in an effort to contain the spread of infections.
In a notice published on Monday, Erenhot in Inner Mongolia said travel in and out of the city was banned and residents should not leave their housing compounds.
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