Covid-19 in China: Guangzhou locks down residential areas and bans restaurant dining in one district
- The southern city delayed the start of the school year and cut public transport services in Haizhu district after recording seven cases
- Meanwhile, the nearby city of Shenzhen has imposed similar restrictions in four districts as it battles an outbreak of the Omicron subvariant BA.5
The city’s health authorities reported seven new cases in Haizhu district, six of them with symptoms, on Wednesday. Two were detected through regular community testing, and five were picked up through close contacts screening.
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The outbreak was caused by the Omicron subvariant BA. 2.76 but the source remained unknown.
“The cases’ activity sites are complex, involving crowded places such as swimming pools and markets, and there is a high risk of community transmission,” said Zhang Yi, deputy director of the Guangzhou Municipal Health Commission.
In response to the outbreak, the district has banned restaurant dining, suspended services at public buildings, and encouraged employees to work from home. Several bus and subway stations have been shut, while other routes have been altered.
Authorities have also ordered all schools and kindergartens to delay the start of the school year, which usually happens on September 1 – and halt offline classes.
The district is carrying out mass tests on almost 1.6 million people, with the first round taking place on Tuesday and the second on Wednesday.
Su Mingqing, Haizhi’s deputy district head, said the health authorities had stepped up efforts to review the tests and trace the source of the infection and were prepared for an emergency.
Officials imposed fresh measures to contain the outbreak on Tuesday, closing 24 railway stations and 335 bus stations. Dine-in services have also been suspended in four districts with a total population of 9 million.
Over the past month, sporadic outbreaks have swept through dozens of cities across China, each with a handful of cases.
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Though the numbers are comparatively small, Beijing is sticking to its zero-Covid policies, which mean restrictions are imposed after just a handful of cases, in the run-up to the national party congress in mid-October.
It is not clear how Covid-19 rules will affect the gathering but Beijing has sought to shorten duration of political events for this purpose since 2020.
Currently, China has 6,335 confirmed cases of the disease, according to the National Health Commission.
Xi and others have been driving home the message to officials that the party congress is one of this year’s most important tasks, and the nation’s top law enforcement agencies, economic planners and provincial chiefs have all vowed to ensure political and social stability for the event.