January 14, 2021, according to the National Health Commission, there were 273 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 181 locally asymptomatic infections were reported in China within 72 hours, leading to four regions, namely Shijiazhuang City, Xingtai City, Langfang City and Wangkui County, be managed by enclosed type.
Higher Risk of the Expansion of COVID Pandemic
According to the Beijing Daily, the risk of local outbreak in Heilongjiang Province and Hebei Province has escalated, which are spreading to other provinces/cities, as detailed below.
Hebei Outbreak: 695 Infections! 8 Provinces Linked! 3 Cities Locked Down!
As per the Hebei Provincial CDC, the first locally transmitted COVID-19 case was reported on January 2.
As of January 13, a total of 476 confirmed cases and 219 asymptomatic infections had been reported.
Moreover, three provinces, namely Xinjiang, Shanxi and Zhejiang, all had imported infection from Hebei.
- Earlier on January 6, 2021, per Xinjiang CDC, an imported asymptomatic infection was reported in Hutubi County, Changji Prefecture, who was a truck driver in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province;
- Then on January 11, 2021, according to the Shanxi Provincial CDC, as of now, there are one newly confirmed case and one asymptomatic infection in Yuci District, Jinzhong City, which are imported from Hebei;
- On January 13, 2021，per the Jiaxing CDC, an asymptomatic infection was reported in Haining City, Zhejiang Province, which was also imported from Shijiazhuang, Hebei
Further more, another five provinces/cities, including Beijing, Shaanxi, Wuhan, Anhui and Guizhou, also reported the actions trajectory of the confirmed cases in Hebei.
Therefore, as to resolutely curb the spread of the Pandemic, three cities in Hebei, including Shijiazhuang, Xingtai and Langfang, have been managed by enclosed type since January 12. All personnel and vehicles are banned from leaving the city.
Meanwhile, the strictest control measures have been taken for roads, railways, urban passenger transport, civil aviation and waterways.
Heilongjiang Outbreak: Related Infected Patients Found in 8 Cities
Per the Heilongjiang Provincial Government, as of January 13, 2021, 14 confirmed cases and 32 asymptomatic infections have been reported in Wangkui County of Suihua City.
Additionally, the infected persons imported from Wangkui were found in 8 cities of three provinces, including Beilin District of Suihua (2 cases), Ang’angxi District of Qiqihar (7 cases), Daqingshan County of Yichun City (1 case), Harbin (3 cases) and Mudanjiang (4 cases); Changchun (9 cases) and Tonghua (6 cases); and Weihai (1 case). Until now, at least 79 people have been infected by this outbreak.
Therefore, From January 11, Wangkui County announced the closure of the city.
All urban and rural residents are not allowed to leave.
Duration of Lock Down Won’t Exceed One Month – Experts
According to Yang Zhanqiu, a professor at Wuhan University, based on the whole-gene sequencing, the pandemic situation in Hebei and Heilongjiang belongs to the imported infection, then the lock down of these above-mentioned four areas won’t last long.
As long as two or three weeks later, there are no newly confirmed cases, then they will be back to normal, basically before the Spring Festival.
While per Wang Peiyu, vice-president of the public health of Peking University, the end of the locking down depends on the trend of the pandemic, which is currently estimated to last between 10 and 14 days.
