Coronavirus: Chinese city suspends school amid Covid-19 outbreak and deadly haemorrhagic fever cases
- Xian in Shaanxi province reported 21 Covid-19 cases and one asymptomatic patient on Sunday, bringing the total number of infections in this wave to 57
- Xian CDC says haemorrhagic fever is currently at its peak and urges people aged 16 to 60 to be vaccinated against the disease
All students from kindergarten to high school were ordered to stay home from Monday until further notice, local newspaper Huashang Daily reports.
The city reported 21 Covid-19 cases on Sunday and one patient who has not yet shown symptoms, bringing the total number of infections in the current wave to 57.
Local health authorities believe the outbreak was introduced on a flight from Pakistan on December 4, but so far the chain of transmission is unclear.
More Covid-19 cases were discovered during testing, indicating community spread had occurred and the outbreak was still in the “rapid development” stage, according to Liu Feng, director of the Shaanxi Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Genetic sequencing showed the outbreak, first reported on December 9, was linked to the flight from Pakistan on which six out of 180 passengers were infected. A staff member who disinfected the quarantine hotel rooms of infected passengers from the Pakistan flight became the first case in the local outbreak and five days later a colleague was also reported to be infected.