China lifts lockdowns at disease epicentre but steps up prevention of imported cases
CHINESE health authorities yesterday announced the easing of lockdowns in Hubei province, where the novel coronavirus emerged late last year – as other parts of the country ramped up curbs against imported infections.
Outbound travel resumed at midnight, except for Wuhan city, where restrictions will lift on April 8. Wuhan has been in lockdown since Jan 23.
Migrant labourers leaving the city, the epicentre of the outbreak, will have to undergo nucleic acid tests before being allowed to leave on government-arranged transport.
Reversing the lockdown is boosting optimism that the worst is over in China, though concerns persist that figures reported by authorities may not accurately reflect the outbreak.
A picture circulated online of a Wuhan housing compound notice informing residents two new cases had been found. It was dated March 20 – a day when the government reported zero cases in the city.
Local authorities later said the two cases had been confirmed previously, though China’s poor track record with transparency and bungled initial response continues to cause doubts.
Risks of a second outbreak remain as the number of imported infections, many of which are Chinese nationals fleeing virus-hit countries, continues to tick upwards.
China’s national health commission reported 78 new infections on Monday. Most were imported illnesses, with only four local transmissions, including one in Wuhan. Across the country, there are now 427 imported coronavirus cases, and at least three infected locally via a traveller from abroad.
Authorities are ramping up measures on international arrivals, with Beijing authorities saying yesterday that those entering the city will be subject to centralised quarantine and health checks. Prior to this, some were allowed to self-isolate.
The southern city of Shenzhen is testing all arrivals, and Macau, a Chinese territory and gambling hub, has banned visitors from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan; foreigners were already barred from entering.
China is also turning to mobile apps to determine people’s health risk profiles. They indicate if people should be quarantined, or permitted to enter restaurants, office buildings, neighbourhoods, shops, and other public areas.
One system, linked to the country’s top state-owned telecoms, appears to track people’s movements via their sim card.
Another is linked to a top digital wallet platform, and requires registration of personal details before generating a green, yellow or red code.
Green indicates a clean bill of health and allows the holder the greatest freedom; yellow means a quarantine period; and red requires holders to report to the authorities.
When the coronavirus first erupted in the country, the epidemic seemed to push the limits of China’s mass surveillance – facial recognition, for instance, floundered against face masks.
Officials casting around for ways to mass monitor the population turned to old-fashioned human enforcement.
Tech companies and the government have mobilised quickly, and local authorities are beginning to favour the new digital methods.
But the programmes can be faulty, with some users reporting getting different codes in different parts of the country, and there is little transparency about the criteria.
Foreigners living in China are running into trouble using the apps, as many of them only recognise Chinese national identification cards and not passport numbers, which means foreigners can be barred from entering buildings or residential compounds.