The southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou locked down its largest district Monday as it tries to tamp down a major COVID-19 outbreak, suspending public transit and requiring residents to present a negative test if they want to leave their homes.
The outbreak is testing China’s attempt to bring a more “targeted” approach to its zero-COVID policies while facing multiple outbreaks. China is the only major country in the world still trying to curb virus transmissions through strict lockdown measures and mass testing.
Baiyun district in Guangzhou also suspended in-person classes for schools and sealed off universities. The measures are meant to last until Friday, the city announced.
Meanwhile in Beijing, the capital reported two more COVID-19-related deaths. On Sunday, the city reported its first COVID-19 death in over six months.
While critics have questioned China’s COVID-19 numbers, and specifically its death toll, its intensive approach to trying to contain infections has prevented massive outbreaks and kept new daily cases lower than in many other countries.
Last week, China announced that it was relaxing some of its ‘”zero-COVID” policies, such as suspending flights from airlines that had brought a certain number of passengers who tested positive. It also cut down the time required in centralized quarantine for international arrivals from seven to five days.
The relaxation of some measures is an attempt to make the policies more “scientific and precise,” Lei Haichao, the deputy director of the National Health Commission, said last week.
Larger cities are still holding on to some of the tested measures, though in a more fragmented manner than shutting down an entire city, which they had previously done.
Shijiazhuang, a city in northern Hebei province, is testing all residents in six districts. In Beijing’s Haidian district, home to the city’s tech hub and top universities, schools shut down in-person classes in an announcement Sunday night.
Guangdong province, home to Guangzhou, reported the largest number of new cases Monday with 9,085 out of a total of 27,095 cases nationwide.
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Associated Press news assistant Caroline Chen in Guangzhou, China, contributed to this report.
Hong Kong leader John Lee tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Thailand, the city government said Monday.
Lee tested negative throughout his four-day stay in Bangkok but his test upon his arrival at Hong Kong’s airport on Sunday night was positive, a government statement said.
Lee is now in isolation and will work from home, according to a spokesperson of the Chief Executive’s Office.
During his trip, Lee met various leaders including Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. In some close-door sessions, seating arrangements had him next to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China on Sunday announced its first new death from COVID-19 in nearly half a year as strict new measures are imposed in Beijing and across the country to ward against new outbreaks.
The death of the 87-year-old Beijing man was the first reported by the National Health Commission since May 26, bringing the total death toll to 5,227. The previous death was reported in Shanghai, which underwent a major surge in cases over the summer.
While China has an overall vaccination rate of more than 92% having received at least one dose, that number is considerably lower among the elderly, particularly those over age 80. The commission did not give details on the vaccination status of the deceased.
That vulnerability is considered one reason why China has mostly kept its borders closed and is sticking with its rigid “zero-COVID” policy that seeks to wipe out infections through lockdowns, quarantines, case tracing and mass testing, despite the impact on normal life and the economy and rising public anger at the authorities.
In a partial response, the central city of Zhengzhou said Sunday it will no longer require a negative COVID-19 test from infants under age 3 and other “special groups” seeking health care.
The announcement by the Zhengzhou city government came after a second child’s death was blamed on overzealous anti-virus enforcement. The 4-month-old girl died after suffering vomiting and diarrhea while in quarantine at a hotel in Zhengzhou.
Reports said it took her father 11 hours to get help after health care workers refused to provide assistance and she finally was sent to a hospital 100 kilometers (60 miles) away. Internet users expressed anger at “zero COVID” and demanded officials in Zhengzhou be punished for failing to help the public.
That follows an earlier outcry over a 3-year-old boy’s death from carbon monoxide poisoning in the northwest. His father blamed health workers in the city of Lanzhou, who he said tried to stop him from taking his son to a hospital.
Other cases include a pregnant woman who miscarried after she was refused entry to a hospital in the northwestern city of Xi’an and forced to sit outside in the cold for hours.
Each such case brings promises from the ruling Communist Party — most recently last week — that people in quarantine or who can’t show negative test results wouldn’t be blocked from getting emergency help.
Yet, the party has often found itself unable to rein in stringent and often unauthorized measures imposed by local officials who fear losing their jobs or facing prosecution if outbreaks occur in areas under their jurisdiction.
Nearly three years into the pandemic, while the rest of the world has largely opened up and the impact on the Chinese economy rises, Beijing has mostly kept its borders closed and discouraged travel even within the country.
In the capital Beijing, residents were told not to travel between city districts, and large numbers of restaurants, shops, malls, office buildings and apartment blocks have been closed or isolated.
China on Sunday announced 24,215 new cases, the vast majority of them asymptomatic.
Performances have been suspended at one of Beijing’s oldest and most renowned theaters as part of a new wave of shop and restaurant closures in response to a spike in COVID-19 cases in the Chinese capital.
The Jixiang Theater in the downtown Wangfujing shopping district was originally built in 1906 and recently moved to its present location on the 8th floor of a shopping mall that also houses shops and a fast food restaurant. It is famed for performances of Peking opera and other traditional art forms.
Performances were due to resume Nov. 27, but such dates for re-opening have frequently been extended.
China reported 24,263 new cases Saturday, 515 of them in Beijing. The vast majority were asymptomatic.
Despite that, lockdowns and other strict control measures have been put in place around the country, with many Beijing residents sent notices advising them not to leave home unless absolutely necessary.
Restaurants, malls and shops deemed non-essential have been closed and foot traffic in those still open was much reduced. Detection of a single case or even a close contact of an infected person can force the closure of an entire office building or apartment block.
Access to Beijing’s elite Peking University was suspended Wednesday. People who visited a vegetable market in the city’s southeast where a case was found were ordered into quarantine in a hotel at their own expense.
The southern metropolis of Guangzhou plans to build quarantine facilities for nearly 250,000 people. Guangzhou, a city of 13 million people, is the biggest of a series of hot spots across China with outbreaks since early October.
China’s infection numbers are low compared with the United States and other major countries, but the ruling Communist Party is trying to isolate every case under its “zero-COVID” policy.
Repeated closures of neighborhoods, schools and businesses are fueling public frustration and clashes with health workers.
The policy is also inflicting major damage to the economy and global supply chains. Access to a Zhengzhou industrial zone that is home to the world’s biggest iPhone factory was suspended this month following outbreaks. Apple Inc. said deliveries of its new iPhone 14 model would be delayed after workers fled. Local authorities have called for low-level party officials and even military recruits to fill their places, according to reports.
The harsh measures come even as the national government tries to reduce the impact of anti-disease controls that have confined millions of people to their homes, leading to mixed messages and adding to confusion and anger.
Total Doses Distributed = 911,216,095. Total Doses Administered = 650,810,290. Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses = 267,476,279. Number of People Fully Vaccinated = 228,154,832.
The Indian Health Service announced Thursday that all tribal members covered by the federal agency will be offered a vaccine at every appointment when appropriate, under a new vaccine strategy.
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, American Indians and Alaska Natives have had some of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates across the country.
But Indigenous people are especially vulnerable to vaccine-preventable illness, and IHS officials recently noticed fewer patients have been getting vaccines for COVID-19. Monkeypox is now an additional health concern.
Patients in the system are also beginning to fall behind in more routine inoculations, such as jabs for childhood diseases like measles, mumps and rubella, as well as shingles shots for older adults.
“With time passing, we are seeing some COVID fatigue, and we feel we aren’t where we need to be,” Dr. Loretta Christensen, IHS chief medical officer, said in a brief interview before the announcement was posted online. “With our vulnerable population, it is critical to reenergize our staff to get everyone the vaccinations they need.”
Christensen said in a posted announcement that she had directed all care sites in the system “to respond to this important call to action to increase vaccine coverage and protect against vaccine preventable illnesses in tribal communities.”
“Every patient at every encounter will be offered every recommended vaccine when appropriate.” she wrote. “IHS will exempt encounters in which a vaccine would not be appropriate such as when someone has a moderate or severe acute illness.”
Christensen told the agency’s staff in an additional message that she was encouraging everyone to get an updated COVID-19 and flu shots as winter approaches.
“We can work together to protect our friends, relatives, elders and our communities as we gather across the country for the holiday season,” she said.
The Indian Health Service is the health care system for federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Natives in the United States.
