Authorities in Beijing are on high alert for the coronavirus outbreak ahead of the Winter Olympics in February. (File)
Shanghai:
Hundreds of flights were canceled, some schools closed and tour groups suspended on Friday after three cases of coronavirus were reported in Shanghai, as China continued its zero-Covid policy. his strictness.
Beijing has been largely successful in controlling the spread of the coronavirus within its borders through travel restrictions and flash lockdowns, but frequent outbreaks in the country have tested a no-drill strategy. their concessions in recent months.
The three positive cases were friends who traveled together to the nearby city of Suzhou last week, Shanghai health authorities said at a news conference Thursday night – adding that all had passed away. fully vaccinated.
Data from flight tracking company VariFlight showed that more than 500 flights from Shanghai’s two main airports were canceled on Friday.
The Shanghai government also directed that all cross-province package tours involving the city – a major commercial and tourist hub – would be cancelled.
Six hospitals in Shanghai have also suspended outpatient services.
“China has accumulated a lot of experience in ‘zero-Covid dynamics’, so our strategy will not change,” said Zhang Wenhong, head of the Covid-19 expert task force in Shanghai.
He warned that this could become a “normalized anti-epidemic situation that we may encounter again” in the future.
About 100 kilometers away, Suzhou – which has a population of about 13 million – has closed tourist attractions and asked residents to provide negative test results before leaving the city.
Authorities in Beijing are on high alert for any potential outbreak ahead of the Winter Olympics in February, which will see a wave of athletes, media and foreign officials.
All schools in the small satellite city of Xuzhou were closed, which also prevented its two million residents from getting out of the city by bus service, after a Shanghai patient was found there. .
A university campus in neighboring Hangzhou was locked down after an employee was found to be in close contact with a confirmed case, state media reported.
State media reported that, with the leadership determined to hold the Olympic Games Covid-free, the Olympic Park in Beijing was sealed off as part of the event’s “closed-loop” bubble.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
