Beijing airports on Friday canceled hundreds of flights and travel conditions were tightened across China to fight the emergence of outbreaks of Covid-19. The country, where the coronavirus appeared at the end of 2019, has largely controlled the epidemic from the spring of 2020 with the adoption of drastic measures, including the closure of borders.
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But in a dozen regions the communist regime is facing sporadic outbreaks, which has led the authorities to assign millions of inhabitants to their homes, to step up screening and to restrict movement between the provinces. The number of Covid cases, however, remains significantly lower than those recorded in most countries. Thus, on Friday, 48 people tested positive, bringing the total number of cases identified this week to 250.
However, the authorities intend to take no risk a few months before the Olympic Games in Beijing in February. Tens of thousands of residents are confined to their homes in the capital where a handful of cases have been reported. Long lines formed outside medical centers in Beijing on Friday as residents complied with the new restrictions.
Many areas require passengers to test negative before entering, especially those coming from cities where cases have recently been reported. Chinese authorities are also closely monitoring the situation in other regions. About half of the flights from the capital’s two main airports were canceled on Friday, according to the Chinese tracking platform Feichangzhun.
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Railway officials on Thursday ordered two trains to Beijing to stop and more than 450 passengers were tested after staff members were identified as contact cases. For fear of new outbreaks emerging, other cities have tightened restrictions. Authorities in Harbin, capital of northeastern Heilongjiang province, have advised 10 million residents not to travel and a third of the flights have been grounded. About 6 million Chinese are confined through the Asian giant, including about 4 million in Lanzhoun (northwest) and Ejin, on the border of Mongolia, which has 35,000 inhabitants.
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