HONG KONG – Chinese health authorities have made efforts to curb a revival of coronavirus cases, as the country has the worst recovery since the pandemic exploded there early last year.
Cities across the northern provinces of Hebei, Heilongjiang and Jilin have built temporary quarantine facilities, put in place millions of residents’ closure measures and instituted rounds of city-wide testing.
Armies of volunteers dressed in protective gear have meanwhile blown through the affected areas and disinfected empty streets and shops, according to media reports.
On Wednesday, Beijing city health officials said they had discovered the more contagious British variant of the virus in the samples of two patients who tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday.
Since the current spate of cases occurred in mid-December, health authorities have found about 1,500 symptomatic cases of Covid-19, most of which were local infections. China counts both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases, but only includes the former in its official count.