Jilin Province in Northeast China has declared a second lockdown following a new outbreak of Covid-19. China’s Global Times Reports the discovery of new Covid-19 infections in the city of Shulan led to lockdown in local communities and villages Saturday 9 May.
To calm and manage the situation, the Communist Party of China immediately set meetings in place to monitor the outbreak. Local party secretary of the Jilin Provincial Committee Bayin Chaolu, chaired an anti-epidemic meeting on Sunday 10 May.
After the meeting Bayin Chaolu said the new clustered infections in Shulan posed a great danger to lives. Shulan then promptly raised its epidemic-response on Sunday to the highest level, making it the only city in China to do so currently.
All public transportation, including buses, suspended services from Sunday, and no taxi is allowed to leave the city, which has a population of 630,000.
All restaurants closed
A local resident who runs a lobster restaurant in Shulan told the Global Times he was about to open his business as the city recovered from the epidemic, but the recent infections prompted him to shut his doors once again. The Global Times quoted the restaurateur: “All restaurants have closed for business due to the infections.”
The infection chain originated from a 45-year-old female who worked as a laundry worker at a local public security bureau. The virus has now spread to her husband, her three sisters and some other family members, according to the local health authority on Sunday.
However, the source of infection of the laundrywoman remains a mystery, as she had no recent travel or exposure history, alarming authorities to examine if the virus has found a new way of spreading. An epidemiological investigation is now ongoing.
New Covid-19 outbreaks
New outbreaks are also being reported in Wuhan and another area of Jilin Province yesterday.
Jilin is one of three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west.
More details on this news from China is available at the Global Times.
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