BEIJING (AP) – Chinese authorities have asked residents in two cities south of Beijing to stay home for seven days while trying to eradicate a COVID-19 outbreak in which more than 300 people tested positive last week.
The cities of Shijiazhuang and Xingtai in Hebei Province restricted people to their communities and towns and banned gatherings, according to notices they posted on social media.
Hebei reported another 14 confirmed cases in the most recent 24-hour period, bringing the total of the ongoing outbreak to 137. Another 197 people were found without symptoms that tested positive. China does not include such asymptomatic cases in its confirmed score.
Beijing requires Hebei workers to show proof of service in Beijing and a negative COVID test before entering the country’s capital. Chinese media reported hours of backup at access points on Friday.
In a separate outbreak, three more cases were reported in the northeastern province of Liaoning province, bringing the total to 84 since the first cases surfaced about three weeks ago. Beijing had 31 cases during the same period, although there were no new ones in the last 24 hours.
In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:
India will begin its coronavirus vaccination campaign on January 16 to stem the tide of pandemic in the world’s most populous country. The health ministry said on Saturday that health care and front-line employees, whose numbers are estimated at about 30 million, would be given preference. They will be followed by those older than 50 years and the minor population with less than 50 million people, who numbered about 270 million, the statement said. Last week, the Indian drug regulator granted emergency approval for the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca in the UK, and another developed by the Indian company Bharat Biotech. AstraZeneca has contracted the Serum Institute of India, the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, to make 1 billion doses of its vaccine for developing countries, including India. The Ministry of Health said that both vaccines are administered in two doses. India, according to the ministry, is second in the world behind the United States with 10.4 million cases of coronavirus, including 150,798 deaths.
COVID-19 vaccine shots are free in China, where more than 9 million doses have been given so far, health officials in Beijing said on Saturday. “Ordinary people do not have to spend a penny,” Zheng Zhongwei, an official of the National Health Commission, said at a news conference. The announcement raised confusion nine days ago during a news conference in which Zheng said it would be affordable, and a more senior official, Deputy Minister Zeng Yixin, jumped in to say it would be free. The costs are covered by a national medical insurance fund and state funds. About 7.4 million shots have been fired since a ride began to vaccinate medical and transport workers and other key groups ahead of the new lunar year, a major holiday in mid-February. More than 1.6 million shots were fired in previous months. Zeng, the deputy minister, said the specific timing for a visit by a WTO expert team on the origin of the virus is being determined and that Chinese experts are in Wuhan, the city where cases of the new coronavirus are first detected is, will be merged. at the end of 2019. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus earlier this week expressed disappointment that the Chinese party had not finalized the necessary permits for the visit. Two team members who were already on their way had to turn back. Tedros said in Geneva on Friday that he expects the dates to be set next week.
Several regional governments in Japan have called for a state of emergency such as the one issued by the prime minister to the Tokyo region to stem the rising increase in coronavirus cases. The heads of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures in central Japan addressed their request to Coronavirus Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura in an online conference on Saturday, Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told reporters. There was no immediate decision, but the government panel of medical experts will study the situation, Yoshimura said. The state of emergency from Japan, which began on Friday to Tokyo and nearby Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba, focuses on closing restaurants and bars at 8 p.m. It lasts a month, but can be extended. The Gifu department announced its own state of emergency on Saturday. Other prefectures may follow. Japan recently saw more than 7,000 new cases a day, with Tokyo’s daily business above 2,000. Overall, Japan confirmed more than 270,000 cases, including more than 3,900 deaths.
Sri Lankan prison authorities have decided to release more than 100 prisoners serving sentences due to their inability to pay fines, in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus within the crowded facilities. About 4,121 inmates and 129 prison officers tested positive for the virus in five prisons in different parts of the island nation. The prisons in Sri Lanka are very busy, with more than 26,000 prisoners in facilities with a total capacity of 10,000. Prison authorities on Saturday said about 150 inmates serving prison sentences for failing to pay the fines would be released under a special pardon the government had announced to ease the congestion. Authorities have released detainees on various grounds since December. So far, 10,227 prisoners have been released. Sri Lanka has confirmed a total of 47,304 cases of coronavirus, including 225 deaths.