BEIJING — China on Friday ordered the isolation of 9 million residents in the northeastern city of Changchun amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases in the area linked to the highly contagious omicron variant.
Residents are required to stay at home, with one family member allowed to go outside to buy food and other necessities every two days. All residents must complete three rounds of mass testing, with non-essential businesses closed and transportation suspended.
The latest lockdowns, which also cover Yucheng with 500,000 people in the eastern province of Shandong, show China is sticking to the draconian approach to the pandemic it has been taking for much of the past two years, despite some earlier signs that authorities will apply more targeted measures.
China reported another 397 cases of local transmission across the country on Friday, 98 of them in Jilin province, which surrounds Changchun, the center of the country’s auto industry. Across the province, the number of cases has surpassed 1,100 since the latest outbreak, which first broke out late last week.
People walk through a closed market in Changchun, northeast China’s Jilin province, Friday, March 11, 2022. AP
Just two cases were reported in Changchun itself on Friday, bringing the total to 78 in recent days. Authorities have repeatedly promised to quarantine any community that has one or more cases, in line with China’s “zero tolerance” approach to the pandemic.
Another 93 cases have been confirmed in the neighboring city of Jilin, which shares the same name as the surrounding province. The authorities have already ordered a partial blockade of the city and severed transport links with other cities.
Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University officials were fired after a cluster of infections were reported on campus, and students complained on social media that those who tested positive were kept in school libraries and other buildings under poor conditions .
The school has 74 confirmed cases and quarantined more than 6,000 people, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Aerial footage shows students in hazmat suits lining up in the cold and darkness to wait for transfers.