HONG KONG – China is struggling with its biggest coronavirus outbreak in months, closing in on severely affected areas, quarantining more than 20 million people and urging citizens to abandon unnecessary travel as the New Year holidays approach in February come.
The escalation, taking place during the coldest winter in northern China in a generation, underscores the official sketch of nearly a year after authorities closed the city of Wuhan to curb the initial outbreak.
The National Health Commission of China on Tuesday reported 42 new cases of locally transmitted symptomatic infection, a day after 85 such cases were recorded – the highest daily score in six months.
Most of the recent cases have been detected in the northern province of Hebei, which surrounds the capital of China.
Local authorities in the city of Langfang on Tuesday placed its five million residents in quarantine in the house for seven days while they implemented city-wide testing. Authorities imposed similar measures on the provincial capital Shijiazhuang last week, preventing people and vehicles from leaving the city and stopping public transport within the city.