Beijing on edge as neighbouring Shijiazhuang sees new Covid outbreak

China is facing a new wave of Covid-19 outbreak in Shijiazhuang, a city 290 kilometres from Beijing, laying increasing pressure on the capital which has been faced with imported Covid infections

China is facing a new wave of COVID-19 outbreak in Shijiazhuang, a city 290 kilometres from Beijing, laying increasing pressure on the capital which has been faced with imported COVID-19 infections from travellers, media reports said.

Shijiazhuang, the capital city of North China's Hebei Province in neighbouring Beijing has suspended the operation of trains and buses from 3 pm on Sunday amid the latest COVID-19 spike that started Thursday, Global Times reported.

After conducting its third round of citywide nucleic acid testing, the city, home to a population of more than 11 million reported 25 new asymptomatic cases on Sunday within the last 24 hours.

Of these cases, 22 are from the Qiaoxi district. As of 12 pm on Saturday, the city has detected 47 COVID-19 cases, all asymptomatic. In a bid to contain the situation, the city on Sunday decided to seal off four districts including Qiaoxi.

According to a statement issued by local authorities on Sunday, residents in the four districts must work from home from 2 pm on Sunday to 2 pm Wednesday. During the same period, all places, excluding those necessary for city operation, market supply, public services, and disease prevention and control, are required to be shut down, as per the media portal.

Meanwhile, Beijing discovered six new local COVID-19 cases from Saturday to 3 pm on Sunday. On Sunday, the Chinese mainland reported 259 new confirmed cases and 1,035 asymptomatic cases in 26 provinces.

China's much-publicized 'zero-Covid' strategy that the government credited for bringing the country out of the pandemic till recently is falling apart as the rapidly mounting cases are again forcing mass lockdowns like those seen in 2020.

A Chinese study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal has shown that Chinese vaccines were unable to detect Omicron sub-variants, reported Asian Lite International.

Around 400 million people in China are affected, which amounts to over a quarter of the country's population. As many as 45 cities including the financial hub of Shanghai were placed under strict lockdown in recent times in the wake of Chinese vaccines' failure to tame the coronavirus.

Due to stringent COVID measures and a series of lockdowns, China has incurred huge economic expenses and severe effects on the livelihoods of its inhabitants in the first half of 2022 as a result of rigorous lockdowns and demanding testing procedures in different parts of the nation.

Recent reports have revealed that China's zero-Covid policy is based on digital identification: the health code. The contentious code reportedly documents one's contact information, identification, and recent travel history, all in the name of virus prevention.