China isolates the province with the largest outbreak of coronavirus since the original in Wuhan

China faces an explosion of cases of covid unprecedented since the start of the pandemic in Wuhan in 2020, with outbreaks in the northeast of the country and in the metropolises of Shenzhen and Shanghai that local authorities are trying to stop by applying the strict zero covid policy.

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The Asian country announced today the detection of 3,602 local cases of covid in its continental part, of which more than 3,000 were located in the northeastern province of Jilinbordering Russia and North Korea.

Since this Monday, its 26 million inhabitants have been prohibited from leaving the province, a guideline that has not been applied in China since the residents of the central province of Hubei, whose capital is Wuhan, were banned from leaving during the first outbreak of coronavirus. the pandemic in early 2020.

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“SERIOUS AND COMPLICATED” SITUATION

The province, the size of Albania, is facing a “serious and complicated situation” according to local health authorities, and has already completed the construction of five temporary hospitals with a capacity of 22,880 beds while others are still under construction.

Despite the fact that the province has not registered any deaths for months and the vast majority of those infected in this outbreak (3,059 of the 3,076 cases detected yesterday) show “mild symptoms” and none are serious, the Chinese strategy of “zero dynamic covid” It provides for the isolation of all those infected and their close contacts in facilities designed for this purpose, which adds pressure to the hospital system of the places where outbreaks are registered.

7,000 soldiers have been mobilized to participate in pandemic prevention tasks, which include, as has been customary in China throughout the pandemic, massive PCR tests on the population wherever a case is detected.

However, the governor of the province, Han Jun, was confident and promised this Monday that the province, where some cities such as Changchun (capital) and Jilin are already totally or partially confined, will manage to “cut the chain of social contagion” within a week, which means transmission will only be detected in isolation facilities.

SHENZHEN AND SHANGHAI AFFECTED

The southern city of Shenzhen, with 17 million inhabitants, decreed last weekend the cancellation of public transport services and movements in neighborhoods have been restricted after an outbreak that leaves 551 active cases in the city, according to the latest official data.

The city, bordering Hong Kong -which in turn is dealing with a seventh wave of covid that has already caused more than 2,800 deaths since March 1-, also announced the launch of a massive campaign of PCR tests that will collect samples three times of all the inhabitants of the city.

The outbreak has also impacted the industrial capacity of Shenzhen, located in the area of ​​China known as the “world factory”: Taiwanese technology company Foxconn, the world’s largest iPhone assembler, announced on Monday the suspension of operations at its factories and restrictions have caused sharp falls in the stock markets of Hong Kong and mainland China.

For its part, Shanghai, with 671 active cases, has not declared a total confinement, but many residents of affected neighborhoods have been prohibited from going outside and all kindergartens and primary and secondary schools have announced that classes will continue in line.

FEW CHANGES IN THE MANUAL

Faced with the largest outbreak of covid recorded since the original in Wuhan, China has barely changed its “dynamic zero covid” strategy, which includes the closure of borders for non-residents and massive PCR tests and movement restrictions wherever a case is detected. .

Last week, the country approved the use of antigen tests to “supplement” the existing strategy, of which Jilin province, currently the most affected, has ordered 12 million units.

These tests, “cheaper” according to the consulting firm Trivium, could serve the Chinese authorities to “accelerate large-scale testing campaigns” and, in the long term, their availability could “provide China with a way to live with the virus.”

However, both political and health voices from the Asian country have recently defended the suitability of the severe Chinese strategy despite the fact that some experts had hinted at a change in policy.

Chinese Vice President Sun Chunlan, visiting Jilin province, asked the authorities for “efforts in PCR testing campaigns and quarantines” to stop “all contagion in the community” and reiterated the need to isolate cases. asymptomatic.

For his part, the epidemiologist Zhang Wenhong assured that “this is not the time to debate the zero covid policy” but to “use this period as an opportunity to design wiser, more complete and sustainable anti-pandemic strategies.”

Since the start of the pandemic, 120,504 people have been infected in the country and 4,636 have died, according to official Chinese accounts.

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Source: Elcomercio

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