China is reintroducing coronavirus closures to 20 million people as business starts to pick up, reaching its highest daily number of cases in six months on Monday.
Monday’s 85 new locally transmitted symptomatic infection cases and Tuesday’s 42 similar new cases reported by China’s National Health Commission prompted many areas in China to reinstate closure protection ahead of one of China’s biggest holidays in February, the Lunar New Year.
Most of the closures take place near the northern part of China, where they are experiencing one of their coldest winters on record, the Wall Street Journal. report.
Many of the new cases are being seen around Beijing, the capital of China, in the northern province of Hebei.
One of the larger closures that have taken place is from the largest metropolis in Hebei, Shijiazhuang. They locked up their 11 million residents last Thursday.
Deputy Mayor Meng Xianghong has a announcement that cars could not leave the city and that the rural areas were weak points in their fight against the pandemic.
He said it has been confirmed that some of the new cases are from people who attended weddings and funerals.
The increase in business comes almost a year after the closure of China in Wuhan, the initial outbreak of the pandemic. Local governments encourage citizens to limit gatherings and not travel, and offer extra money to workers who do not travel for the upcoming holidays.
The city of Langfang on Tuesday instituted a week-long lockdown of its five million residents as tests are implemented across the city.
China uses locks to suppress the spread of the virus in their country, but there are many complaints internationally about the lack of transparency in China’s affairs. Prime Minister Li Keqiang on Saturday discouraged any under-reporting of the total affairs.