Holiday travelers heading home are new challenge for controlling virus
Print Edition
CHINESE authorities have tightened measures to battle the novel coronavirus epidemic as a growing number of people hit the road and return to work after the Spring Festival holiday.
Railway stations, airports, and highways have all joined the campaign to protect passengers and contain the spread of the epidemic while ensuring smooth traffic flows.
The number of passengers is expected to increase this weekend as the Spring Festival holiday winds down. Hubei Province, hit hard by the viral outbreak, has received approval from central authorities to extend the holiday. Many cities have asked companies to postpone business operations to curb the epidemic.
By the end of Friday, a total of 259 people had died and 11,791 confirmed cases of the virus had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions in China.
“More than half of those confirmed cases were reported in Wuhan and other parts of Hubei Province,” said Zhang Wenhong, who heads a Shanghai medical team fighting the epidemic.
According to Zhang, the rapid increase of confirmed cases in the past few days is partly due to a large number of second- and third-generation infections of the virus in Wuhan.
Meanwhile, some of those infected in Wuhan may have traveled to other parts of Hubei, as well as to Zhejiang, Henan, Chongqing and other provinces and cities that have close connections with Wuhan, Zhang said.
Yesterday, Huanggang, another locked-down city in Hubei, banned almost all of its residents from leaving their homes in the most stringent controls imposed yet.
The government said only one person from each household would be allowed out to shop for food once every two days.
“Others are not allowed to go out except for medical treatment, to do epidemic prevention and control work or to work in supermarkets and pharmacies,” the government said.
The city has punished 337 officials for slacking off from their duty in combating the coronavirus. Six of them were dismissed from their position.
As a transport hub in western China and a city bordering Hubei, Chongqing Municipality has seen a major increase in passenger flow at railway stations since Friday.
Since Wednesday, everyone taking public transport in Chongqing has been required to wear a mask.
More Chinese provinces and cities are postponing the resumption of business and school semesters to curb the spread of the virus.
The government of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, announced on Friday that civil servants and employees of public institutions will return to work February 9.
Businesses in Wenzhou will not reopen until February 17, except for those related to epidemic control. Students of every level will not return to school before March 1.
A growing number of Chinese provinces and cities, including Heilongjiang, Shandong, Guizhou, Hebei, Hunan, Shanghai and Xi’an have taken similar measures by asking businesses, except those involved in key sectors, not to resume operations before February 9, in a move to reduce crowds and prevent the spread of the virus.
As a major destination for returning travelers, Beijing is now in a critical period of epidemic prevention and control, facing an increasing number of local cases and a rising risk of the virus spreading, said Pang Xinghuo, vice director of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
The city has already introduced a system of patient notification, transportation, and isolation treatment, as well as contact tracing and management, Pang said.
Custom authorities have ordered temperature detection at all exit-entry points in Beijing. All passengers coming in or out of the city are required to fill in health declaration cards, and medical services are provided to passengers with symptoms.
Motorists in Shandong Province, a source of labor for many other parts of the country, are required to undergo temperature detection before entering highways.
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