China turns to zero-tolerance in new crackdown
A year after the coronavirus first erupted in Wuhan, China has declared wartime mode and has locked down another city of 11 million to combat a resurgence of infections.
Authorities in Shijiazhuang, a city in north-eastern China, have barred people and vehicles from leaving, in efforts to curb infections after the country reported its biggest one-day increase in five months, with 103 new cases.
The city has been among the hardest hit after a handful of infections cropped up in Beijing in mid-December and spread across at least four surrounding provinces, including Hebei itself, where Shijiazhuang is located.
Since then, China has recorded 727 infections, though hundreds of asymptomatic cases have also been found, details of which are not included in the official daily tally.
Officials are taking no chances, especially in the weeks leading up to Chinese New Year on February 12, a holiday and travel period that experts say was likely to have exacerbated the spread last year.
China has fine-tuned its emergency response measures, having dealt with a series of outbreaks since the first infections emerged in Wuhan last year, rolling out strict curbs even if only a few cases occur.
Once discovered, officials move immediately to seal off residential compounds, urban districts or at times, entire cities. Medical workers conduct mass testing, sometimes going from home to home to swab residents. Detailed contact tracing is triggered to identify and quarantine people exposed to those who test positive.
That is now happening in Shijiazhuang. In the past few days, officials have set up thousands of testing stations, which include buses converted into mobile units that work inside residential compounds.
A few hundred medical staff have been dispatched from elsewhere to get the entire city tested within days.
Authorities have banned gatherings, stopped passengers entering the main railway station, and closed long-distance bus terminals. Police have set up checkpoints to stop cars using key highways. Travel within Shijiazhuang itself is also restricted. Residents in high-risk districts cannot leave.
One hospital has moved nonCovid patients to other facilities to focus solely on treating coronavirus patients. Three others have been designated as backups, to admit patients if necessary.
Housing compounds in the city now only have a single exit and entrance to ensure residents are abiding by quarantine restrictions.
Using a phrase that means ‘‘keep going’’, one person wrote online: ‘‘I feel like I am seeing again what happened last year in Wuhan, but now we are more experienced and everything will be more smooth. Shijiazhuang – add oil!’’ – Telegraph Group