China’s Rural COVID-19 clusters emerge as new challenge during recent outbreak
Around 2,000 people, both confirmed and asymptomatic, have been infected in the latest cluster outbreaks of coronavirus in northern China this winter.
According to the state media, at least 11 regions in the provinces of Hebei, Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces have imposed tough measures similar to lockdowns and rolled out extensive COVID testing.
Feng Zijian, deputy director of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told state broadcaster on Sunday, the outbreaks in Hebei and Heilongjiang were mainly in rural areas.
Preventing Covid-19 in the countryside has become a new challenge for China’s pandemic prevention efforts. It is more difficult to control the pandemic in rural areas because quarantine, the testing process and public awareness may lag behind urban areas, he said. Feng said, many rural clinics are ill-equipped to detect and report the disease promptly.
Hebei has recorded 769 locally transmitted cases and 182 asymptomatic carriers since the first case was reported on January 2 in the latest outbreak.
While the origin remains unclear, most cases are the result of attending weddings, funerals and other village events. Hebei authorities announced to punish lockdown violations, including the illegal staging of weddings or funerals, the state news agency said.
Recent daily surge in COIVD cases remain a fraction of numbers in early 2020, but officials are concerned about rapid spread rapidly during the Lunar New Year holiday starting February.
