China is trying to stop a new Covid outbreak
Key Takeaways:
- A county in eastern China's Anhui province is testing daily nucleic acids on 763,000 people under lockdown as authorities fight to control a recent spike in Covid-19 infections across the country.
- the majority of the 380 domestic cases that the Chinese mainland announced on Monday—270 in Anhui, including 41 symptomatic cases.
As authorities struggle to contain a recent uptick in Covid-19 cases across the nation, a county in eastern China's Anhui province is conducting daily nucleic acid testing on 763,000 individuals under lockdown. At the same time, mass tests have been scheduled for other locations.
As of Monday, cases had been confirmed from at least nine provinces. The current outbreak has occurred just weeks after Shanghai's debilitating early-summer pandemic was brought under control, and even as China relaxes travel restrictions to encourage domestic travel over the summer holidays.
For China, it will require striking a practical compromise between allowing regular economic activity and adhering to its professed zero-Covid strategy, characterized by lockdowns, extensive testing campaigns, and stringent isolation rules.
The majority of the 380 domestic cases—270 in Anhui, including 41 symptomatic ones—which the Chinese mainland reported on Monday.
According to the Xinhua news agency, "339 local asymptomatic carriers were newly found on Sunday in 9 provincial-level regions, such as 258 in Anhui and 52 in Jiangsu."
The provinces of Liaoning, Fujian, and Shandong, among others, have also recorded cases.
Authorities in Sixian county, Anhui, declared that citizens must submit to forced nucleic acid tests for three days starting Monday.
In Anhui, 134 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 724 asymptomatic carriers were recorded between June 26 and July 3, with 132 cases in Sixian county, Suzhou City, according to Xinhua.
More than 22,600 people have been quarantined, and 22,320 isolation rooms have been set up as of Sunday in the county, which has been under "closed-off control since June 26."