District announces wartime control mode

A district in Shiyan, Central China’s Hubei Province announced wartime control measures for the next 14 days, including the full closure of all buildings, the first time in China during the national fight against the COVID-19 outbreak, which experts said is inappropriate administrative actions.

The district started wartime control measures from Thursday, demanding all its buildings be fully closed and residents not leave their homes except those who are fighting the epidemic, according to an announcement published by the COVID-19 epidemic control department on the local government’s WeChat on Wednesday evening. All residential areas are being manned around the clock.

Whether the control measures will be lifted or continue depends on their effectiveness.

The wartime control measures were put in place after the district reported 137 confirmed cases of infection with the COVID-19, the second highest number in the city of Shiyan, where 562 were reported as of the end of Wednesday.

Shiyan has reported one death from the disease.

Local neighborhood committees will distribute basic necessities at a fixed time and fixed prices. The committees will help residents purchase medicines if they are urgently needed.

Those who force their way into or out of residential areas, courtyards, buildings and roads will be detained, it said.

People suffering from fever or having come into close contact with infected patients will be sent to a medical observation point in the district.

The announcement said the controls are in accordance with the law on public security management, the law on prevention and treatment of infectious diseases and regulations on urgent responses to public health emergencies.

An expert at China University of Political Science and Law said that “the move is a sign that the local government overexerted.”