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Beijing (AFP) – The Chinese authorities imposed stone measures in the city of Anyang, which has a population of 5 million people and is located in central China, on the success of monitoring new infections with the Corona virus, especially the mutant Omicron.
This city in Henan Province is the third whose residents are forced to stay in their homes, following a similar measure was taken last month in the city of Xi’an (north).
Since last year, China has been pursuing a “zero Covid” strategy, which is to do everything possible to limit as much as possible the incidence of new infections, which generally do not exceed a few dozen per day.
This strategy threatens to monitor new foci in Xi’an, the worst in terms of the number of infections since the spring of 2020, and the emergence of the highly contagious Omicron mutant.
The country doubles its vigilance with the approach of the Winter Olympics (February 4-20).
In this context, the city of Anyang on Monday evening ordered its residents to stay in their homes and banned private vehicles, according to the Chinese news agency.
The official agency added that non-essential stores were closed and a public screening campaign was launched to “prevent the spread of the Omicron mutant.”
The city has recorded 84 cases since Saturday, including at least two of the new mutant, linked to the Tianjin outpost (north).
And the city bordering Beijing on Sunday prevented its nearly 14 million residents from leaving its local borders.
Many cities in the country are subject to similar measures, but with the exception of Anyang and Xi’an, there is only one city in Henan province that enforces home confinement and that is Yuzhou (1 million people).
Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, has tightened measures imposed on its 13 million residents, following 100 cases were detected, as schools and non-essential shops were closed.
Restaurants have to make do with serving outside meals, and all public transportation, including taxis, have suspended service.
In Shenzhen (south), bordering Hong Kong, some apartment complexes were quarantined and a public examination campaign was launched following a small number of infections were reported.
On Tuesday, China recorded 157 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, including 60 imported cases.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the official death toll has exceeded 100,000, with 4,636 deaths. China does not take into account asymptomatic infections.
© 2022 AFP