A county in China’s eastern Anhui province is carrying out daily nucleic acid tests for its residents on lock down while mass tests have been ordered for other areas, as authorities scramble to contain a fresh surge in Covid-19 cases in the country.
The new outbreak, with cases reported from at least nine provinces as of Monday, comes weeks after the government brought Shanghai’s crippling early summer epidemic under control and as China eases restrictions on movement to boost domestic travel during summer holidays.
For China, it will have to be a pragmatic balance between its avowed zero-Covid strategy — marked by lockdowns, large-scale testing campaigns and strict isolation protocols — and allowing normal economic activity.
Anhui reported 270 cases, the majority of 380 domestic cases , including 41 symptomatic ones, reported by the Chinese mainland on Monday.
“A total of 339 local asymptomatic carriers were newly identified on Sunday in nine provincial-level regions, including 258 in Anhui and 52 in Jiangsu,” official news agency Xinhua, reported on Monday.
Cases have also been reported from the provinces of Liaoning, Fujian and Shandong among others.
Authorities in Sixian county in Anhui announced mandatory nucleic acid tests for its residents for three consecutive days, beginning Monday.
“From June 26 to July 3, a total of 134 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 724 asymptomatic carriers had been logged in Anhui, of which 132 confirmed cases were in Sixian County, Suzhou City,” Xinhua reported.
In the county, which has been under “closed-off management since June 26”, more than 22,600 people had been placed under quarantine and 22,320 isolation rooms had been put into operation in Sixian as of Sunday.
“The seventh round of mass Covid-19 testing was conducted in Sixian Monday and door-to-door sampling was carried out in high-risk areas while 10-in-1 mixed sampling was conducted in other areas to improve the county’s testing capability,” the Xinhua report said.
Public transport remains suspended and only eight supermarkets are open to supply daily necessities to 155 residential areas across the county.
The Xinhua report added that Hefei, the provincial capital, and Wuhu will continue to carry out mass Covid-19 testing every three days.
Meanwhile, Macau, a semi-autonomous region off the coast of southern China known for its casinos, ordered a new round of Covid-19 testing for its residents on Monday.
Authorities in the former Portuguese colony have been scrambling to control the ongoing Covid outbreak since the first cases were recorded in June.
Macau residents have been ordered to take three rounds of tests this week, in addition to rapid antigen tests.
The city reported 68 new infections for Sunday with the total tally now stands at 852.
