Clustered outbreak emerges in Beijing village, officials warn of vulnerability in epidemic control
Liu Caiyu Published: Jan 11, 2021 01:03 PM
A community worker (L) measures body temperature for a resident at the entrance of the Hongcheng Huayuan residential compound on Wangquan Street, Shunyi District, Beijing, capital of China, on Dec. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)
A clustered outbreak of COVID-19 infections has emerged in a village in Beijing, amid warnings that China s villages could be a potential weak spot in the country s epidemic control efforts.
Lianzhuang village in Beijing s Shunyi district has recorded seven COVID-19 infections, including a family of three. Lianzhuang has been completely sealed off and all 968 villagers will undergo nucleic acid testing, Beijing authorities said at a press conference.
The virus strain found in coronavirus-hit Hebei Province in North China is believed to be from overseas and patient zero had emerged before December 15, Hebei authorities revealed on Sunday, but how the virus was imported remains a mystery.
CHINA / SOCIETY
Hebei’s capital moves to close off road, railway traffic By GT staff reporters Published: Jan 06, 2021 08:51 PM Updated: Jan 06, 2021 11:31 PM
Local police reroute motorists at a highway crossing in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province on Wednesday. Shijiazhuang launched comprehensive nucleic acid testing on its residents. Photo: cnsphoto
Just one night after announcing it was entering the wartime mode, North China s Hebei Province, which neighbors Chinese capital Beijing, began putting in place various COVID-19 prevention measures on Wednesday amid a sudden spike in coronavirus infections, including controls on highways passing through Hebei leading to Beijing and other provinces, stopping sales of railway tickets to Beijing, suspending classes in schools, implementing closed-off managements in residential communities in provincial capital Shijiazhuang, and taking sweeping nucleic acid tests.
25 Days That Changed the World: How Covid-19 Slipped Chinaâs Grasp
The most famous doctor in China was on an urgent mission.
Celebrated as the hero who helped uncover the SARS epidemic
17 years ago, Dr. Zhong Nanshan, now 84, was under orders to rush to Wuhan, a city in central China, and investigate a strange new coronavirus. His assistant photographed the doctor on the night train, eyes closed in thought, an image that would later rocket around China and burnish Dr. Zhongâs reputation as the nationâs medic riding to the rescue.
Chinaâs official history now portrays Dr. Zhongâs trip as the cinematic turning point in an ultimately triumphant war against Covid-19, when he discovered the virus was spreading dangerously and sped to Beijing to sound the alarm. Four days later, on Jan. 23, Chinaâs leader, Xi Jinping, sealed off Wuhan.
Wuhan to release information on emergencies within 5 hrs, reserve 20,000 beds for infectious diseases in post-epidemic era
Xu Keyue Published: Dec 29, 2020 09:18 PM
Medical staff celebrate the closure of all 16 makeshift hospitals in Wuhan on March 10 2020. Central China s Wuhan, a city once hard-hit by COVID-19 in early 2020, has recovered its dynamism. Photo: Cui Meng/GT
Central China s Wuhan, a city once hard-hit by COVID-19 in early 2020, has recovered its dynamism. The city is summarizing lessons from its anti-epidemic efforts and improving its emergency response systems, including the release of information about emergencies within five hours and reserving 20,000 hospital beds for infectious diseases.