Explainer: China's new COVID-19 outbreaks

Gerry Weber International AG

15/01/2021 03:18

SHANGHAI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - China has put millions of
people in lockdown in response to new outbreaks of COVID-19 in
the north and northeast, with Hebei province reporting the first
new coronavirus death on the mainland since May last year.
    
    HOW DID THESE NEW OUTBREAKS OCCUR?
    Two major outbreaks now centre on Shijiazhuang, the capital
of Hebei, and the province of Heilongjiang in northeast China.  
    Though the first case in the Hebei cluster was identified on
Jan. 3, medical experts said it may actually have begun as early
as November and spread through the province over the subsequent
months. 
    There is no indication that it was related to any recent
imported cases, though officials said on Wednesday that the
initial case might have been a traveller from overseas.   
    The outbreak in the northeast is said to have originated in
the coastal city of Dalian, where a series of local
transmissions at the start of the year were traced back to
infected cargoes from Russia. 
    The strain circulating in the region has been found to
resemble the one that hit Russia last year.   
    
    WHAT'S DIFFERENT FROM CHINA'S PREVIOUS OUTBREAKS? 
    Officials have expressed concern that the outbreak in Hebei
province has been largely in rural areas, where medical
infrastructure is weaker and control measures somewhat harder to
enforce.
    Authorities are also trying to reduce the risk that it could
spread deeper into the countryside as migrant workers return
home for Chinese new year.              
    Though the number of infections remains relatively low,
especially as a proportion of the population, Feng Zijian,
deputy director of the China Center for Disease Control, warned
that the Hebei outbreak had been spreading faster than previous
ones.
    Medical experts are also worried that the incubation period
for the new strain is longer than previous outbreaks, with
infections detected even after the recommended 14 days of
isolation.     
    
    WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF A WIDESPREAD NEW WAVE OF INFECTIONS? 
    Though the number of new daily cases is at its highest in 10
months, China has acted quickly to try to contain the threat and
stop it from spreading further, with more people in lockdown now
than at the height of the crisis last year. 
    It has sealed off entire cities throughout Hebei province,
paying particular attention to the roads connecting Hebei to its
neighbour, the Chinese capital Beijing. It is also tracking
people who have travelled out of the province since December.
    The province of Heilongjiang is also encouraging people to
stay home over the Lunar New Year holiday, but there will be no
"one size fits all" travel ban. The official China Daily said in
an editorial on Friday that "it has to be a voluntary choice on
the part of workers."    
    Feng of the CDC told reporters on Wednesday that China had
now gained a good understanding of COVID-19 and that it was
unlikely that there would be a large-scale rebound in cases.    
    

 (Reporting by David Stanway. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
 ((david.stanway@thomsonreuters.com; +86 21 2083 0066;))