BEIJING (AP) – China on Tuesday designated parts of Hebei province, near Beijing, as high risk for coronavirus after finding 14 new cases of COVID-19.
Eleven of those infections were recorded in the city of Shijiazhuang, where some of the tests for the 2022 Winter Olympics will be held. Another 30 people tested positive for the virus, although they did not develop symptoms, the regional health authority explained.
The other three infected were in the city of Yantai. Parts of Shijiazhuang were classified as high risk, which means that screening for the disease will be carried out and stricter isolation measures will be imposed, while other areas of Yantai were marked as medium risk. With these, the total number of active cases in Hebei rises to 19, and medical researchers were studying whether a single event, such as a family reunion, was the source of many of the infections.
China recorded two other cases of domestic transmission in the northeastern province of Liaoning, one in Beijing and 16 more imported.
Since the start of the pandemic, China has registered 87,183 cases of COVID-19, with 4,634 deaths, but asymptomatic positives do not enter its official count.
Alert to another wave of infections, authorities are asking tens of millions of migrant workers not to travel during the Lunar New Year holidays next month, which is usually the largest annual human migration in the world. Classes ended a week earlier than usual and tourists have been asked not to travel to Beijing on public holidays.
