Guangxi City Sealed Off After Covid Outbreak

Nearly four million residents of a city in southwest Guangxi have been put into lockdown because of a Covid outbreak.

The National Health Commission (NHC) reported that 37 domestically transmitted infections had been confirmed in Baise on Sunday, up from six the day before.

However, other reports quote local media as saying almost 100 cases were detected in the city during mass testing on Sunday.

State television cites a statement from the Baise city government as telling residents to stay indoors except for trips to buy essentials or test for Covid-19, and to opt for delivery rather than in-store purchases whenever possible.

It has also suspended non-essential businesses, public transport and school sessions and delayed opening of ports of entry along the international border.

Essential workers will need special passes for movement within Baise.

Efforts to halt coronavirus outbreaks have taken on extra urgency during the staging of the Winter Olympics, which began on Friday and run until February 20, as well as the peak Lunar New Year travel season.

Dozens of athletes for the Games, hosted by Beijing and the northern province of Hebei, have tested positive and been moved into isolation, but events have not been seriously affected in the absence of cluster spread in the closed loop insulating them from the public.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organising Committee said on Monday that 24 new Covid-19 cases were detected among games-related personnel on February 6. Eleven of the cases were found among new airport arrivals, while 13 were among those already in the “closed loop” bubble.

Including Baise, the NHC reported 45 locally transmitted cases on the mainland on Sunday, up from 13 a day earlier.

Guangdong and the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin also reported sporadic local symptomatic cases for Sunday. (Reuters)