A north-eastern Chinese city of 6million has entered what authorities called the ‘wartime mode’ as officials locked down communities to stamp out a fresh COVID-19 outbreak.
Dalian, a major port in Liaoning province, has registered 12 native infections since Wednesday after reporting no new cases for nearly four months.
Two neighbourhoods in the city centre deemed as ‘high-risk’ have gone into full lockdown, with no residents allowed to enter or leave. Officials are also placed to guard the sealed-off areas 24/7.
A north-eastern Chinese city of 6million has declared entering ‘wartime mode’ as officials have sealed off communities to stamp out a fresh COVID-19 outbreak. Residents in Dalian are pictured waiting for groceries delivered to a sealed residential compound on July 23
The picture shows workers setting up a temporary fence outside a residential community in Dalian on July 23 after the major port city is hit with a fresh coronavirus outbreak this week
The major port city of Dalian in Liaoning province in north-eastern China has registered 12 confirmed local infections since Wednesday after going nearly four months without any
Residents of Dalian are only allowed to leave the city if they show negative testing results produced within seven days, said the government today.
Since the virus first surfaced in the central city of Wuhan late last year, the country’s official number of infections has been restricted to a trickle, mainly among arrivals from abroad. All mass lockdowns have been lifted.
But China appears to have struggled with curbing the contagion entirely as recent domestic outbreaks erupted multiple regions, including Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Dalian officials Wednesday reported its first local infection in nearly four months, a 58-year-old male employee from a local seafood processing company.
Another two infections were recorded yesterday before the authorities registered a further nine new cases today, bringing the total of active patients to 12.
Dalian officials Wednesday reported its first local infection in nearly four months, a 58-year-old male employee from a local seafood processing company. Dalian residents line up to receive nucleic acid testing for the COVID-19 coronavirus at a temporary testing station on July 23
All of the new cases found today are said to be colleagues of the first patient, who worked at a seafood processing company that deals with imported product. This picture shows health workers walking out of the Dalian Kaiyang Seafood Co., where the outbreak is linked to
Twenty-seven asymptomatic patients were also reported today. All of the cases found today are said to be colleagues of the first patient, who worked at a seafood processing company that deals with imported product.
On Friday, the Dalian Health Commission said the city had to ‘quickly enter wartime mode, go all-out, mobilise all people and resolutely curb the spread of the epidemic’.
It also announced strict new measures, including on-the-spot nucleic acid tests for everyone taking the subway line that passes the affected seafood company.
Two ‘high-risk’ neighbourhoods had been placed under lockdown and were being fully disinfected, the officials said today.
Two ‘high-risk’ areas are placed under lockdown and being fully disinfected, the officials said today. A worker is seen spraying disinfectant from a truck in the street of Dalian on July 23
The authorities urged their residents to not leave the city unless there is an emergency as they scrambled to put hundreds under isolation and track down the close contacts of the infected. A worker is seen spraying disinfectant from a truck in the street of Dalian on July 23
The authorities also urged their residents not to leave the city unless there is an emergency as they scrambled to put hundreds under isolation and track down the close contacts of the infected.
It remains unclear how the patients have contracted the bug as officials are working to identify the source.
The news comes as China is battling a new spike of coronavirus cases across the country.
The region reported 13 new infections today, bringing the total of active cases to 95 after an outbreak broke out in its regional capital, Urumqi, last week. The picture taken on July 19 shows Urumqi residents undergoing nucleic acid testing in Xinjiang Autonomous Region
Xinjiang’s capital city, Urumqi of 3.5million, reported last Thursday its first COVID-19 infection – a 24-year-old female retail worker – in five months.
The region reported 13 new infections today, bringing the total of active cases to 95.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong government made masks compulsory on public transport and in public indoor areas following what officials called ‘a third wave’ of coronavirus infections.
As of Friday, mainland China have reported a total of 83,750 confirmed infections. The death toll remains at 4,634.