Residents of a northeast China city were placed under strict lockdown on Monday, as provincial authorities increased restrictions originally implemented May 9 in response to new cases of the coronavirus.
Shulan, a municipality of 700,000 people in Jilin province, near the border of North Korea, had confirmed 19 cases of the respiratory illness as of Monday since May 7, according to a report government-affiliated news outlet China Daily. The report, published Tuesday and included in the National Health Commission’s press release archive, outlined heightened isolation protocols effective Monday afternoon. The policies are reminiscent of those implemented in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, where the virus was first identified late last year.
Residential areas of Shulan with positive or suspected positive cases of the virus have been quarantined, with personnel assigned to guard perimeters as means to prevent people from entering or exiting, China Daily reported. Citing an announcement from local disease control officials, the outlet said supermarkets will deliver “daily necessities” to communities under isolation. In areas where cases of the new coronavirus have not been identified, Monday’s expanded restrictions allow one member of each household to purchase food or other products every two days.
Previously, communities without confirmed or suspected infections were permitted one household member to acquire necessities outside their residential areas once per day. According to a report in the Global Times published May 10, when Jilin’s government leaders called for Shulan to elevate its virus response strategies, initial lockdown measures were enacted after 12 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus were detected.
In addition to preliminary quarantine mandates, Jilin’s officials ordered restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and other recreational venues in Shulan to close, while a number of schools paused classes. Taxis were prohibited from leaving the city, and public transportation to and from Shulan was suspended.
Health authorities governing Shulan believe recent virus transmissions are connected to one infection identified in a 45-year-old woman, though several reports have noted that investigations into how she contracted it are underway, given the woman’s lack of travel history or known exposure. The National Health Commission published a report on Sunday warning about asymptomatic cases and the importance of expanded diagnostic testing.
Other communities in northeast China, including Jilin City near Shulan, have responded to new cases of the coronavirus identified within their respective regions as well. In Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province with a population exceeding 8 million, more than 7,500 people were put under medical observation last week to undergo diagnostic testing. According to the National Health Commission, three positive cases were recently confirmed in Shenyang.
Health officials reported six new symptomatic cases of the new coronavirus, in addition to 17 asymptomatic cases, across China on Monday alone. Overall, at least 84,063 cases and 4,638 resulting deaths have been reported in China since the start of the pandemic last December, according to the latest figures included in Johns Hopkins University’s global virus tracker.
