BEIJING (AP) – Shanghai has imposed the blockade of two of China’s best-known hospitals after new coronavirus cases were linked.
Outpatient services were suspended at Fudan University in Shanghai Cancer Center and Renji Hospital. They were surrounded, along with some surrounding residential communities.
After months of stifling small groups with tests of mass, isolation and social distancing, China has seen growing outbreaks this winter, mainly in its cold north. The National Health Commission announced on Friday that 103 new cases have been detected in the last 24 hours.
Blockages have also been imposed in parts of Beijing and other cities due to outbreaks, schools are being abandoned early and citizens have been told to stay home for next month’s Lunar New Year holiday. China hopes to vaccinate 50 million people against the virus by mid-February.
Shanghai reported six of the cases on Friday. The two hospitals were closed after suspicious cases were found on Wednesday and Thursday. It is not immediately clear if there have been additional hospital-related cases.
Heilongjiang province in the far north reported 47 new cases, followed by Jilin just south with 19 and Hebei province just outside Beijing with 18. Beijing itself has three new cases.
Chinese hospitals currently treat 1,674 patients for COVID-19, 80 of whom are in serious condition, while another 929 are under observation to test positive without showing any symptoms.
In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region,
– South Korea has reported the smallest daily increase in coronavirus infections in two months, while officials express a cautious hope that the country is starting to move away from the worst increase in the pandemic. The 346 new cases reported by the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Friday brought the national case number to 74,262, including 1,328 deaths. The agency said 240 of the new infections come from the greater Seoul area, which is home to half of the country’s 51 million people, who were hardest hit during a week-long increase in transmission since mid-November. . Health authorities have restricted private social gatherings since late December, including fining restaurants that have accepted large meal groups. After a maximum of 1,241 Christmas, new daily infections have slowed to 400 to 600 in recent weeks, and officials have eased some of the rules of social distancing.
– Myanmar received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, a gift of 1.5 million doses from India. The vaccine was developed by Oxford University and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and was produced under license in India. India has started delivering vaccine deliveries to several countries, including neighboring Bangladesh, which has received 2 million doses. The delivery of the vaccine from India comes after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi promised last week during a visit to Myanmar a donation of 300,000 doses of his own vaccine. The gifts offered by India and China are examples of what has been called vaccine diplomacy in a country where the two powers are fighting hard for influence. On Thursday, the Myanmar Ministry of Health announced 446 new cases of coronavirus, along with 16 new deaths. It reported a total of 136,166 cases, including 3,013 deaths. “In the coming weeks, we will have another batch of vaccines from other countries. Some are the ones I bought, “said public health official Tun Myint. The Indian Embassy said Myanmar had signed an agreement with the vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India to procure additional doses.