China’s rural Covid-19 clusters challenge country’s strategy to stop disease spreading

Around 2,000 cases have been reported in the latest outbreaks, many linked to events such as weddings and funerals in the countryside

The use of lockdown and mass testing has proved effective in cities, but may not work so well in rural areas

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Workers spray disinfectant on a street in Shijiazhuang’s Gaocheng district. Photo: STR/CNS/AFP

Published: 9:08pm, 18 Jan 2021Updated: 9:08pm, 18 Jan 2021

Around 2,000 people have been infected in the latest cluster outbreaks of coronavirus in northern China this winter, increasing concern about whether forceful government intervention can effectively stop the spread of Covid-19.

China reported 109 new confirmed cases for Sunday, including 16 imported cases. Among the 93 locally transmitted infections, 54 were reported in Hebei, a province surrounding Beijing; 30 in Jilin, which borders North Korea; seven in Heilongjiang, which is next to Russia; and two in Beijing.

Nationwide, there have been a total of 1,301 confirmed cases this winter, both imported and locally transmitted, as of Sunday, as well as 788 asymptomatic cases, which are not included in China’s official tally.

The rapid spread of Covid-19 in Hebei and the northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin is testing the Chinese government’s ability to subdue the disease, heightening concerns about whether lockdowns and mass testing – strategies that have proved effective in the cities – will work in the country’s vast rural areas.

“The outbreaks in Hebei and Heilongjiang were mainly in rural areas. Preventing Covid-19 in the countryside has become a new challenge for China’s pandemic prevention efforts,” Feng Zijian, deputy director of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told state broadcaster CCTV on Sunday.

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