China reports first Covid death in six months; Schools go offline, restaurants close in Beijing | World news
Beijing: China reported its first Covid-19 death on Sunday in six months as authorities imposed new restrictions in Beijing, moved schools online, closed offices and restaurants in the densely populated city. , Chaoyang, and also urged residents to avoid going out unless absolutely necessary. .
Overall, China reported 24,435 new Covid-19 infections for November 19, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Sunday, down slightly from 24,473 a day earlier.
Beijing reported 516 new infections as of 3pm on Sunday, low by global standards but a high enough number for city authorities to impose city-wide restrictions without declaring a lockdown as it continues to implement the policy. Zero-Covid”.
“It is necessary to take various prevention and control measures in a strict, firm, scientific and accurate way, strengthen the prevention and control of social spaces in important areas and important roads and cities, and further reduce human activity level,” Liu Xiaofeng, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Sunday.
As of Saturday, Beijing reported 621 new Covid-19 cases with 122 identified outside the quarantine areas through district-level surveillance.
The death of an 87-year-old man from Covid-19 in a Beijing hospital sparked fears of more restrictions being imposed with the city entering a record number of cases every day.
The latest death brings the total death toll in China to 5,227 with the previous deaths reported from Shanghai, which underwent surgery in cases and a two-month lockdown earlier this year.
The 87-year-old died of sepsis caused by a serious lung infection on Saturday, CCTV news reported, adding that the man reported suffering from dry cough symptoms on November 11 and was confirmed as Covid. -19 positive two days later.
“According to statistics released by the National Health Commission, it has been more than six months since China reported the last two Covid-19 deaths in Shanghai on May 25 and May 26 in next,” the state-run tabloid, Global Times reported on Sunday. .
Most of Beijing’s 16 prefectures have released notices through their official media accounts urging people to reduce commuting and avoid unnecessary trips.
Elsewhere in China, the southern city of Guangzhou reported 8,434 locally transmitted infections for Saturday, down from 8,713 a day earlier. The southwestern city of Chongqing reported 4,710 infections spread across the region, compared with 4,744 a day earlier, according to the NHC’s daily bulletin.
