China Locks Down A City Of 11 Million People To Contain A Coronavirus Flare-up

China has locked down a city of 11 million people in its northern province of Hebei, in order to contain the country's worst coronavirus flare-up in months.

Residents of Shijiazhuang, a provincial capital close to Beijing, have been barred from leaving the city, as major highways were blocked, train and bus stations closed and flights canceled.

The lockdown comes as a total of 117 Covid-19 infections including 67 asymptomatic cases were detected in Shijiazhuang on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Shijiazhuang identified another 66 positive cases, according to the Hebei provincial health commission.

Since January 2, a total of 304 positive cases have been reported in Hebei, most of which were in Shijiazhuang, official figures show.

At a press conference Thursday night, municipal officials announced a ban on outbound travel for all residents and vehicles from Shijiazhuang, except for emergencies.

Within the city, gatherings are banned, all schools have been suspended, and residential communities and villages are also closed off.

The restrictions are some of the strictest imposed in China after a previous lockdown during the initial outbreak in the central city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected in December 2019.

The outbreak in Shijiazhuang comes just weeks before the Lunar New Year holiday, the most important annual festival in China which sees millions of people traveling home to reunite with family.

Comments

'I Tried My Best' - Arsenal Boss Arteta Believes He Did All He Could To Include Axed Ozil

The 32-year-old did not feature for the Gunners after lockdown and was subsequently omitted from the club's 25-man Premier League squad. Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta believes he did all he could to give Mesut Ozil a fair shot before he axed the German from his squad. Ozil's name was not among Arsenal's 25-man Premier League squad that was released earlier this month, which followed the playmaker's exclusion from Arsenal's Europa League squad. As the 32-year-old enters the final months of his contract with the Gunners, it now appears likely that he has played his final game for the team. Ozil did play a part for Arsenal last season, at one point starting 10 consecutive Premier League games for the Gunners before the coronavirus lockdown in March. The playmaker did not make a single appearance for Arsenal after lockdown, however, but Arteta has still insisted he gave Ozil every chance to impress before he was omitted from his team. "What I can tell you that I

Arsenal's £72m Enigma: Arteta Right To Demand More From Mercurial Pepe

The Gunners' record signing may have scored his third goal of the season on Thursday night but his manager wants consistency across 90 minutes. Mikel Arteta’s answer was clear when asked what Nicolas Pepe needed to show in order to earn himself a regular starting spot in Arsenal's Premier League team. “Consistency,” said the Arsenal boss, when quizzed on the Gunners’ record signing, following Thursday’s night’s 4-1 Europa League win against Molde at the Emirates Stadium. It was a game that perfectly encapsulated the enigma that is Pepe. The £72 million ($95m) man was infuriating at times - especially in the first half - but just as he had done against Dundalk a week earlier, he popped up with an excellent goal. He also went on to add an assist for Joe Willock, a late strike which sealed a comfortable victory for Arteta’s side and all but booked Arsenal’s passage into the knockout stages. It was a classic Pepe performance and more evidence of why he remains such a puzzle in nort

Should Arsenal Sell Eddie Nketiah To West Ham

Once he hit the U18s he was known as a prolific goalscorer, and was quickly promoted to the U23s, where he carried on scoring despite his age, and Arsene Wenger introduced him to the senior side. Fans started to take notice when he came on as a sub in a League Cup game against Norwich and scored both goals and we were excited for his future. But that promise has never quite materialised. Eddie has continued to be prolific against Smaller sides (i.e. League Cup, Europa League and England U21 qualifiers) but in the League he has managed just 4 goals in 33 appearances, although mostly off the bench. The superstriker never seems to emerge, but I guess we have to remember he is still only 21 and has rarely had a run in the senior side, but I don’t think fans are as excited about him displacing Aubameyang or Lacazette any more. So, the rumours today are that West Ham are considering making an offer for Eddie, after selling Hillier to Ajax for 20m, and we could probably do with selling a few

WELCOME TO GIST CORRIDOR

Search This Blog