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.
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.