Citywide Covid-19 tests ordered in Harbin as China’s latest cluster grows
- Vaccinations suspended for three days as authorities aim to test all residents over the next 48 hours
- The new infections have not been linked to the Fujian outbreak which recorded only 13 new cases on Tuesday
The city was already on high alert after recording three locally transmitted cases of the disease on Tuesday.
Authorities have not linked the infections to the Delta variant outbreak in Fujian province – more than 2,000km (1,400 miles) away in the country’s southeast – where 13 new infections were recorded. No deaths were reported.
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Residents of three districts and one county in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, have until midnight on Wednesday to be tested, while the rest of the city must be tested before midnight on Thursday. All Covid-19 vaccinations have been suspended in the city for three days to focus on the mass testing operation.
The Fujian cases were a significant decrease on the 42 infections reported across the province a day earlier. Two of the cases were in Putian, the city where the outbreak was first identified, while 11 were in Xiamen.
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In Harbin, most venues – including mahjong parlours, cinemas and internet cafes – were closed on Tuesday afternoon, soon after the emergence of the first locally transmitted infection in the new outbreak.
The municipal centre for disease control and prevention said that before being confirmed as infected, the person visited several locations across the city, including restaurants, an escape room and multiple visits to a shop offering murder mystery games.
According to a People’s Daily report on Tuesday, the patient was transferred to the Harbin infectious diseases hospital for quarantine and treatment.
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The National Health Commission said on Wednesday morning that two more cases had been identified in the city. They were later confirmed as close contacts of the first patient and have also been sent to a designated medical institution for quarantine and treatment.
Harbin officials also said on Wednesday that an epidemiological investigation and gene sequencing had begun in a bid to establish the source of the infections.
In addition to contact tracing and mass nucleic acid testing, authorities have also suspended face-to-face classes in all of the city’s schools for one week.
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Zhang Boli, honorary president of the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, told The Beijing News that he thought the Fujian outbreak was still on the rise.
He said the infection chain had not been completely investigated and stopped, presenting a short-term risk of the virus spreading to other regions.
But based on China’s previous experience in tackling the virus, the outbreak could be controlled in about a month, he said.
And compared with outbreaks in Yangzhou and Nanjing, the Fujian cases involved more mild or asymptomatic infections, as well as younger patients overall.
It was still too soon to fully relax restrictions, as China’s large population would make it harder for the country endure the spread of the virus, even if there was a low death rate, Zhang said.
“We must treat this with caution,” he was quoted as saying.
