BEIJING (AP) – Shanghai has imposed lockdowns on two of China’s best-known hospitals after they were linked to new coronavirus cases.
Outpatient services have been suspended at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and Renji Hospital. They have been cordoned off along with some surrounding residential communities.
After months of suppressing small clusters with massive testing, isolation and social aloofness, China has seen outbreaks grow this winter, especially in the frigid north. The National Health Commission announced on Friday that 103 new cases have been discovered in the past 24 hours.
Lockdowns have also been imposed in parts of Beijing and other cities due to outbreaks, schools are leaving early, and citizens have been told to stay home for next month’s Lunar New Year holiday. China hopes to vaccinate 50 million people against the virus by mid-February.
Shanghai had reported six of the cases on Friday. The two hospitals were locked up after suspicious cases were found in them on Wednesday and Thursday. It is not immediately clear whether more cases were related to the hospitals.
Heilongjiang province in the far north reported 47 new cases, followed by Jilin just to the south with 19 and Hebei province just outside Beijing with 18. Beijing itself registered three new cases.
Chinese hospitals are currently treating 1,674 patients for COVID-19, 80 of whom are in severe condition, while a further 929 are under observation to test positive without showing any symptoms.
In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region,
– South Korea reports the smallest daily increase in coronavirus infections in two months as officials cautiously hope the country will begin to falter from the worst pandemic surge. The 346 new cases reported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Friday brought the national caseload to 74,262, including 1,328 deaths. The agency said 240 of the new infections came from the greater Seoul area, home to half of the country’s 51 million residents, who were hit hardest during a week-long surge in transmissions that began in mid-November. Since the end of December, health authorities have decided to call social gatherings, including fining restaurants that accepted large groups of guests. After a Christmas day high of 1,241, daily new infections have slowed to about 400 to 600 in recent weeks, and officials have relaxed some of the social distance rules.
Myanmar received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, a gift of 1.5 million doses from India. The vaccine was developed by Oxford University and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and was manufactured under license in India. India has started shipping the vaccine to several countries, including neighboring Bangladesh, which received 2 million doses. The delivery of vaccines to India comes after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi promised a donation of 300,000 doses of his own vaccine last week during a visit to Myanmar. The gifts from India and China are examples of what is called vaccine diplomacy in a country where the two powers are vigorously vying for influence. On Thursday, Myanmar’s Ministry of Health announced 446 new cases of the coronavirus, along with 16 new deaths. It has reported a total of 136,166 cases, including 3,013 deaths. “In the coming weeks we will have another batch of vaccines from other countries. We bought some, ”said public health official Tun Myint. The Indian embassy said Myanmar has entered into an agreement with vaccine maker Serum Institute of India to purchase additional doses.