China under a new lockdown: What we know so far

Just when you thought that you could finally book those international tickets and go on your much-needed holiday, Covid-19's Omicron variant is causing havoc in China. 17 provinces including China's megacities: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing have reported new cases. 

Beginning on March 13, China is now under mass lockdown as locally transmitted cases have now crossed 3,100, the biggest outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. The outbreak has now become a threat to China's zero-Covid policy. 

The National Health Commission introduced the use of rapid antigen tests across the country on March 11. The Health Commission said, "The kits will now be available online or at pharmacies for clinics and ordinary citizens to buy for "self-testing".

Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan told a televised pandemic control meeting on March 12, "In order to address the Omicron spread, we should promote a model of antigen screening and nucleic acid tests, allow the public to buy tests themselves, which is conducive to early detection."

THE OUTBREAK: Most cases have been detected in the northeastern province, Jilin. The province had reported 2,156 cases till March 13 . A public health official who is responsible for provincial pandemic control, Zhang Yan, has confirmed that Jilin and Changchun are at the center of the outbreak. Zhang also confirmed that both provinces have now begun mass testing in order to 'screen transmission clusters'.

The National Health Commission has confirmed 895 new cases in Jilin on March 14 morning, futher confirming its status as the epicentre of the outbreak. 

The Chair of the government’s Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Professor Lau Yu-lung told a radio programme on March 14, "It is going to take a long time for the number of cases to come down. People will continue to live in a state of confusion and worry for a while." He also added that the outbreak, caused by Omicron, will remain in the country for at least 3-6 weeks before a plummet is seen. 

An assistant professor at Chinese University’s school of public health, Kwok Kin-on also told the same radio programme as Professor Lau on March 14, "We may see anti-epidemic fatigue in the community, as the public appears to become less alert after they are vaccinated or infected."

Kwok also estimated and told the programme that the daily number of infections are expected to not return to about 1,000 until late May. And even then, it would take another month for cases to fall to about 100.

Talking about the effect the new outbreak would have on vaccinated residents, Professor Lau said that his committee 'believes' that infected people who have received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccination and have a 'healthy' immune system would now enjoy "hybrid immunity" and would not require any new doses after recovering. 

THE EXTENT OF THE LOCKDOWN: Provinces all across China have implemented lockdowns in varying degrees.

Here is what each affected province is doing to control the outbreak:

1. In China's tech city Shenzen, residents have been asked to stay at home and all public transport has been suspended in the city. A city-wide lockdown has also been put in place, starting March 14 and residents have been asked to test 3 times, before March 20. All essential services will continue in the city. 

2. On March 13, officials partially locked down Jilin. Hundreds of neighbourhoods have been sealed up. In the province, cities Siping and Dunhua were locked down on March 10 and 11 respectively. 

3. Yanji, an urban area of nearly 7,00,000 residents bordering North Korea, has been completely locked down and all borders have been sealed. 

4. Residents in Shanghai and Qingdao have been asked to cancel all unnecessary travel and all arriving and departing travellers are now required to present negative nucleic acid test results taken within the previous 48 hours.

5. Shanghai has closed inter-city bus transport as well 157 of its parks. The city has also limited college campus-related activities. Authorities in the city have also temporarily locked down individual malls, businesses, schools and restaurants. 

6. Incoming travellers in Beijing are now not allowed to participate in large-scale group meals or gatherings for seven days since arrival. 

7. Officials in Shanghai are 'lookimg' to divert all international flights away from the city, in order to wase pressure on quarantine hotels. 

Acting Secretary for Home Affairs, Jack Chan Jick-chi announced that a fourth Covid-related call centre will be set up, along with a mobile application to deal with this new wave.