JAKARTA - The number of Chinese cities implementing lockdown has increased as the new COVID-19 outbreak spreads, with Anyang implementing this rule, increasing the number of people confined at home to around 20 million people.
It is unclear how long the lockdown in Anyang, home to 5.5 million people, will last. Mass testing is being carried out, standard procedure whenever an outbreak appears across the country.
Another 13 million people are confined to the city of Xi'an and 1.1 million in Yuzhou, with restrictions imposed on the port city of Tianjin, just about an hour from Beijing, which will host the 2022 Winter Olympics from February 4.
A sports official in charge of disease control, Huang Chun, said organizers relied on the cooperation of athletes and officials to prevent outbreaks that could affect participation.
"If mass cluster transmission occurs, it will have an impact on the game and the exact schedule," Huang explained as reported by the Associated Press January 11.
"The worst case scenario, if that happens, is independent of human will, so we're leaving our options open."
Anyang's lockdown follows the confirmation of two cases of Omicron varia on Monday, which are believed to be linked to two other cases discovered Saturday in Tianjin. Apparently, this is the first time the Omicron variant has spread in mainland China beyond people coming from abroad and their direct contacts.
Residents have not been allowed to leave their homes, non-essential vehicles have been banned from the streets and shops have been ordered to close except for those selling necessities, according to a city notice shared by state media late Monday.
Meanwhile, Xi'an and Yuzhou are both battling the delta variant and neither has reported a case of the Omicron variant. About 2,000 people have been infected in Xi'an, the ancient capital that is home to the ruins of the Terracotta Warrior and major companies in computer chips and aerospace, in China's biggest outbreak in recent months.
Separately, Hong Kong also announced the closure of kindergartens and primary schools after infections were reported in students. Meanwhile, schools will be closed on Fridays and will remain closed until at least the Lunar New Year holidays in the first week of February.
Additionally, Hong Kong has tightened restrictions related to the pandemic in recent days after discovering the omicron variant had spread beyond people arriving from overseas.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
