A district in the suburbs of the Chinese city of Wuhan has been placed on lockdown after several infections with the corona virus. It is the first time the city has imposed such a measure since 2020, reports financial news agency Bloomberg.
About a million residents of Jiangxia district have been forced to stay at home, more than two years since the city was sealed off to contain what was then a mysterious lung disease. The reason for this are four asymptomatic cases identified on Tuesday. Public transport is also at a standstill and leisure facilities are closed for three days.
So far, the restrictions have focused on just that one district, but the measure raises concerns about wider restrictions. Since the first lockdown in 2020, life in the pandemic-hit city – which has 11 million inhabitants – has largely normalized. In April there was a small outbreak, last month a few cases were identified.
China is sticking to its ‘zero-Covid policy’, with lockdowns, movement restrictions and large-scale testing, even though the more contagious variants also seem to be able to circumvent the strictest restrictions. On Tuesday, the country had 604 local cases, compared to 868 a day earlier.
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