Draconian measures to control the spread of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus are spreading in China, which has infected almost 25,000 people and caused more than 490 deaths. If Hubei remains the epicenter of the crisis, the other regions are concerned about the end of the Lunar New Year holidays, extended until February 9, and are taking measures to control the returns from this period during which hundreds of millions of Chinese are moving.
Tuesday, February 4, three cities in Zhejiang, the province south of Shanghai, Taizhou (6 million inhabitants) and part of Hangzhou (10 million inhabitants), famous for hosting the headquarters of Alibaba, and Ningbo (8 million inhabitants) have in turn taken drastic measures. While the details may vary from city to city, each time it is a question of limiting the movement of residents and entrances to the city.
As Hangzhou is located less than 200 kilometers south of Shanghai, many are wondering about these measures: are they also intended to prevent the spread of the epidemic in the country’s second city? Since 1st Wenzhou (3 million people) had also taken comparable restrictions in February. Wenzhou Mayor Yao Gaoyun said in a television interview that his goal was to “The inhabitants do not leave their homes for a week”.
Passage blocked by bamboo
According to the official of this city located in the south of Zhejiang, known for its churches and its fabric of small businesses, more than 170,000 inhabitants of the agglomeration work in Hubei, the epicenter of the epidemic, and have potentially brought the virus with them on their way home to spend New Years with their families. As of Tuesday morning, the city had 364 cases of the new coronavirus, making it the most infected city outside of Hubei.
Consequence: for three nights, Jos Van der Broek sleeps in his restaurant, on four chairs next to each other. “But I’m still positive”, specifies this 49 year old Dutchman. Settled in Wenzhou for nine years, he can no longer return to the village located fifteen minutes from the center, where he lives. Around Wenzhou, districts, villages, residences are barricaded gradually. In the small village of Jos Van der Broek, located on the island of Qidu, in the middle of the Ou river, north of the city, the inhabitants cut the roads, leaving only a passage blocked by bamboo and guarded by several people at all times.
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