Explainer | Coronavirus: what’s life like for the 20 million Chinese back in lockdown?
- Hebei and Heilongjiang provinces worst affected as authorities work to keep case numbers under control
- More than 1,000 people are being treated in hospital, reports say
China reported 135 new locally transmitted cases for Thursday, of which 90 were in the northern province of Hebei, 43 in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, one in the southern region of Guangxi and one in the northwestern province of Shaanxi. A total of 66 asymptomatic cases were also reported.
As of the end of Thursday, 1,001 Covid-19 patients were receiving treatment in hospital and 618 asymptomatic cases, which are not included in the tally, were under medical observation.
The Chinese government first resorted to lockdown measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus about a year ago in Wuhan. Most people knew little about the virus at that time and hundreds of people died every week as hospitals became overwhelmed and doctors and scientists struggled to find a cure.
The situation is different today in terms of knowledge but the new restrictions show the disease is far from under control.