Coronavirus: Chinese city in lockdown as Hebei province has biggest outbreak in months
- Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei, enters lockdown after accounting for most of province’s 63 cases, the highest daily figure for months in mainland China
- First locally transmitted infections in the northern province since June, and health authorities expect case numbers to rise
The whole of Shijiazhuang, which has a population of 11 million, was placed under lockdown measures, with passenger train services suspended to prevent further spread of the virus, according to state news agency Xinhua. Flights and coach services to Beijing, 300km (186 miles) northeast of Shijiazhuang, were cancelled.
The 63 infections – identified on Tuesday and announced on Wednesday – prompted a top Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) official to warn that the tally might rise further in the coming days.
Tuesday’s cases included 20 confirmed infections and 43 asymptomatic cases, all of them locally transmitted, the province’s health commission said. Mainland authorities exclude asymptomatic cases from their confirmed infections.
Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital, accounted for all but one of the confirmed cases and all but two of the asymptomatic ones, with the remaining confirmed case being recorded in the neighbouring city of Xingtai.
Hebei had reported 19 confirmed infections and 40 asymptomatic cases between last Saturday and Monday. The previous time the province had recorded locally transmitted infections – rather than imported ones – was in June.
“Right now, Hebei faces a serious situation to get the pandemic under control and our responsibilities are heavy,” Ma Xiaowei, director of the National Health Commission, told a meeting with Hebei officials on Tuesday.