China restricts travel to stem spread of virus
Residents are confined to their homes as newborn baby becomes youngest person to become infected
GROUP dining at weddings and birthday gatherings has been banned in Beijing as China continues to tighten restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
People have been told to avoid crowds and not meet in large groups in the country’s capital of 21million people. Those suspected to have fallen ill or been exposed to the virus are being forced to self-quarantine in their homes. In Shanghai, the country’s biggest city, officials have been sealing the doors of buildings with tape to track if people have left.
Meanwhile, housing compounds in the nearby city of Hangzhou are restricting when people can go outdoors to buy basic necessities, such as groceries, only allowing one person per household to leave every few days.
The BBC has reported that Hubei province, where the virus is thought to have spread from, has switched off lifts in high-rise buildings to discourage residents from going outside.
Despite official insistence that life outside the main quarantine zones is “normal”, Chinese people across the country interviewed by The Daily Telegraph have complained they are subject to severe restrictions on their movements.
The latest figures show that there have been more than 28,000 cases and 565 deaths from the coronavirus, also known as 2019-ncov, since the first cases were found at the end of last year.
Yesterday, state media reported that a newborn baby had become the youngest person to become infected with the coronavirus, after being diagnosed just 30 hours after being born in Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic.
The baby was born on Feb 2 and is now in a stable condition and under observation, it has been reported.
The case raises questions about whether the newborn caught the virus in the womb or after birth. The mother had tested positive for the coronavirus while pregnant.
Outside mainland China, governments are scrambling to tighten their borders and health-screening controls to keep the virus out.
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s leader, has bowed to pressure from striking health workers and ruled that, from tomorrow, anyone arriving in the city from mainland China will be required to undergo 14 days of quarantine.
Nearby Taiwan, which reported a total of 13 cases yesterday, will impose a temporary ban on foreign nationals arriving from Hong Kong and Macau starting today.
Japan has confirmed 10 more coronavirus cases on the Diamond Prince, a quarantined cruise ship docked in Yokohama harbour, bringing the total to 20. More than 3,700 passengers have been confined to their cabins since early Wednesday morning and face two weeks of quarantine.
David Abel, 74, a British pensioner trapped onboard with his wife, Sally, said in a Facebook livestream that passengers were being cared for, but were anxious to get more information about whether their quarantine would be extended or further health tests would be carried out.
“Passengers with inside cabins are now allowed to walk on the deck for one and a half hours under the supervision of the quarantine officers. They must stay one metre apart from one another and not make contact or congregate in groups,” he said.
The British Government’s travel warning for citizens to leave mainland China has been criticised as excessive by China’s ambassador to the UK. Liu Xiaoming urged the UK and other countries to “avoid overreaction, avoid creating panic, and ensure normal cooperation and exchanges”. He cited the World Health Organisation’s [WHO’S] advice that it was unnecessary to enforce travel or trade restrictions.
The WHO announced that Wednesday was the first day the number of new cases was lower than the previous day’s total.
But Dr Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’S emergencies programme, said this did not mean the disease had reached a peak. “It’s too early to make predictions,” he said.
China’s foreign ministry has issued a “notice on healthcare,” requiring accredited foreign journalists to inform the government if they have left their home city since Jan 23. If so, they are required to stay at home for 13 days on their return.
A spokesman later said that the restrictions would be similar to ones imposed by municipal governments, including Beijing, which only affect those who have travelled through Hubei province.
‘They must stay one metre apart from one another and not make contact or congregate in groups’