Central China’s Henan Province, home to about 110 million people, has hit pause on cross-provincial travel on Wednesday, following a fresh COVID-19 case surge in the region. A partial lockdown and suspension of public venues have also been put in place to curb further virus spread.
Shangqiu in Henan Province has asked its residents to not leave the city unless necessary, and shut down indoor public venues on Wednesday as the latest round of winter epidemic outbreak hit the city with report of one asymptomatic case from the province’s capital of Zhengzhou.
The silent carrier spotted in Shangqiu is a male of 65 years old, who was identified as a close contact with a positive case for dining in the same restaurant. He tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday, and is now treated at a designated hospital, China Central Television reported on Wednesday.
To prevent the virus from further spreading, Shangqiu issued a notice on Wednesday morning asking all local residents to not leave the city unless it’s needed, and for those who do need to leave for business trip or seeking medical treatment, they must hold a negative nucleic acid test certificate taken within 48 hours.
Off-campus tutoring for middle and primary school students, pubs, museums, cinemas, and other indoor public venues have been suspended, the notice said.
The province saw another four confirmed local cases on Tuesday and another 18 asymptomatic cases, nine of which were from Zhengzhou.
Zhengzhou has arranged a city-wide all-member nucleic acid test starting Wednesday, according to a notice released Wednesday morning, adding that for residents refusing to take the test, their health code will turn yellow.
Mahjong rooms, funerals and family gatherings were found to be the three transmission chains of the latest COVID-19 spike in Zhengzhou, which was put in partial lockdown overnight after two asymptomatic cases were detected in the city on Monday, the local authorities announced on Tuesday.
The city, with a population of about 1.2 million, is requiring local residents to stay at home from Monday night. It has also shut down bus and taxi services and closed shopping malls, museums and tourist attractions.
Residents in Luoyang city in Central China’s Henan Province took nucleic acid tests on January 2, 2022. Photo: VCG
