China’s capital warns of ‘severe’ Covid-19 situation

Beijing capital’s officials China Today recorded 22 more nCoV infections. Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that Covid-19 had “silently spread” in the city for the past week and added difficulties to control and prevention efforts. Disease.

She also warned that the Covid-19 situation in the capital was “severe and complicated”. Nearly a quarter of the cases being treated in Beijing are people over 60 years old, of which half of the elderly infected with nCoV have not been vaccinated.

Beijing’s most populous Chaoyang district announced that people will have to be tested for nCoV three times in the next week, and indefinitely suspend sports activities and extracurricular classes. Many gyms in the capital had to close or cancel classes.

Beijing authorities also strictly control movement in and out of the city. People coming here must have a negative nCoV test result within 48 hours, while those who have been to an area with nCoV infections in the past two weeks will not be allowed to enter the capital.

Shanghai on April 24 reported 39 deaths from Covid-19, the highest level since the first death was recorded last week, bringing the total number of Covid-19 deaths here to 87. The official also announced an additional 1,401 cases of nCoV infection in Shanghai yesterday.

The city of nearly 26 million people has been in almost complete lockdown since the beginning of the month, amid great pressure from the Shanghai government to control the Covid-19 outbreak that has infected more than 430,000 people, despite the strict blockade order. .

Health officials also warn of the risk of complications from Covid-19 for the elderly community who have not been vaccinated, saying the average age of deaths in Shanghai is 81.

China’s National Health Commission today reported 1,580 new nCoV cases, bringing the total number of cases across the country to 200,654, of which more than 29,500 are being treated with 236 severe cases. The country also reported an additional 20,285 asymptomatic infections today, which are not included in the national infection statistics.

China has consistently applied the “No Covid” strategy since the pandemic broke out at the end of 2019, with the goal of reducing infections to zero with strict blockade orders, mass testing and contact tracing to localize and remove the outbreak as soon as it is detected. However, the latest outbreak, due to the highly transmissible Omicron strain and a spike in asymptomatic cases, is challenging that strategy.

Vu Anh (According to AFP)