HONG KONG – China is battling the biggest outbreak of coronavirus in recent months, imposing blockades on affected areas, quarantining more than 20 million people and urging citizens to give up unnecessary travel as the Lunar New Year holidays approach in February.
The tightening, which takes place in the coldest winter in northern China for a generation, highlights the official sparkle almost a year after authorities closed the city of Wuhan to contain the original outbreak.
On Tuesday, China’s National Health Commission reported 42 new cases of locally transmitted symptomatic infection, one day after 85 such cases were recorded – the highest daily number in six months.
Most recent cases have been detected in the northern province of Hebei, which surrounds China’s capital, Beijing.
Local authorities in the city of Langfang placed the five million people in quarantine at home for seven days on Tuesday, while conducting tests throughout the city. Authorities imposed similar measures on the capital of Shijiazhuang province last week, banning people and vehicles from leaving the city and stopping public transportation inside the city.