BEIJING (AP) – Chinese authorities have asked residents of two cities south of Beijing to stay at home for seven days while trying to eradicate a COVID-19 outbreak in which more than 300 people tested positive in the past week.
The cities of Shijiazhuang and Xingtai in Hebei Province restrict people to their communities and villages and have banned gatherings, according to reports they posted on social media.
Hebei reported a further 14 confirmed cases in the last 24-hour period, bringing the total of the ongoing outbreak to 137. An additional 197 people with no symptoms were found who tested positive. China does not include such asymptomatic cases in its confirmed census.
Beijing requires employees from Hebei to provide proof of employment in Beijing and a negative COVID test before entering the country’s capital. Chinese media reported hours of backups at access points on Friday.
In a separate outbreak, three more cases were reported in Liaoning Province in the Northeast, bringing the total to 84 since the first cases surfaced about three weeks ago. Beijing has had 31 cases in the same period, but no new ones in the last 24 hours.
In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:
India will begin vaccination against coronavirus on January 16 to stop the pandemic in the world’s second-most populous country. The Ministry of Health said on Saturday that priority will be given to health care and frontline workers, the number of whom is estimated to be around 30 million. They will be followed by people over 50 and populations under 50 with co-morbidities, about 270 million, the statement said. Last week, the Indian drug regulator issued an emergency permit for the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and UK-based drug manufacturer AstraZeneca, and another developed by Indian company Bharat Biotech. AstraZeneca has contracted the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, to make 1 billion doses of its vaccine for developing countries, including India. The Ministry of Health said both vaccines would be given in two doses. According to the ministry, India ranks second to the United States with 10.4 million coronavirus cases, including 150,798 deaths.
– COVID-19 vaccinations will be free in China, where more than 9 million doses have been given so far, health officials in Beijing said Saturday. “Ordinary people don’t have to spend a cent,” Zheng Zhongwei, a National Health Commission official, said at a news conference. The announcement resolved the confusion from a press conference nine days ago where Zheng said it would be affordable, and a senior official, Deputy Minister Zeng Yixin jumped in to say it would be free. The costs are covered by a health insurance fund and government funds. About 7.4 million shots have been fired since a drive began on December 15 to inoculate medical and transportation workers and other key groups ahead of Chinese New Year, a major holiday in mid-February. More than 1.6 million recordings had been made in previous months. Zeng, the deputy minister, said the specific timing for a visit by a WHO expert team on the origin of the virus will be determined and that Chinese experts will attend in Wuhan, the city where cases of the new coronavirus were first reported discovered. end of 2019. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed disappointment earlier this week that the Chinese side had not obtained the necessary permissions for the visit. Two team members who were already on their way had to go back. Tedros said in Geneva on Friday that he expects dates to be set next week.
– Several regional governments in Japan have called for a state of emergency, such as that of the prime minister to the Tokyo region to halt the rising rise in coronavirus cases. The heads of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures in central Japan forwarded their request to Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister responsible for coronavirus measures, in an online conference call on Saturday, Osaka governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told reporters. There was no immediate decision, but the government’s panel of medical experts will study the situation, Yoshimura said. The Japanese state of emergency, which began for Tokyo and nearby Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba on Friday, revolves around asking restaurants and bars to close at 8 p.m. It lasts for a month, but can be extended. Gifu prefecture announced its own month-long state of emergency on Saturday. Other prefectures can follow this example. Japan has recently seen more than 7,000 new cases per day, with more than 2,000 daily cases in Tokyo. In all, Japan has 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 jail terms for their inability to pay fines in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus within the overcrowded facilities. About 4,121 inmates and 129 prison officials tested positive for the virus in five prisons in different parts of the island. Sri Lanka’s prisons are very congested, with more than 26,000 inmates in facilities with a total capacity of 10,000. On Saturday, prison authorities said that about 150 inmates serving jail terms for failing to pay the fines would be released under a special pardon announced by the government to ease congestion. Authorities have released prisoners on various grounds since December. So far 10,227 prisoners have been released. Sri Lanka has confirmed a total of 47,304 coronavirus cases, including 225 deaths.