BEIJING: China imposed a strict lockdown on nearly half a million people near the capital to contain a fresh coronavirus outbreak on Sunday, as authorities warned it was soon to “relax” over the new cluster of cases.
After China largely brought the virus under control, hundreds have been infected in Beijing and cases have emerged in neighboring Hebei province.
Health officials said Sunday that Anxin county — about 150 kilometers from Beijing — will be “fully enclosed and controlled,” the same strict measures imposed at the height of the pandemic in the city of Wuhan earlier this year.
Now, only one person from each family will be allowed to go out once a day to purchase necessities such as food and medicine, the county’s epidemic prevention task force said in a statement.
Earlier the county had been subject to some travel restrictions, but now individuals are only allowed to leave their homes to seek medical treatment, the notice said.
The move comes after another 14 cases of the virus were reported in the past 24 hours in Beijing, taking the total to 311 since mid-June.
The outbreak was first detected in Beijing’s sprawling Xinfadi wholesale food market, which supplies much of the city’s fresh produce and sparked concerns over the safety of the food supply chain.
Businesses in Anxin county had supplied freshwater fish to the market, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Some 12 cases of the novel coronavirus were found in the area, including 11 linked to Xinfadi market, the state-run Global Times reported.
The new cases in Beijing have prompted fears of a resurgence of the virus in China.
The capital has mass-tested wholesale market workers, restaurant workers, residents of medium and high-risk neighborhoods and delivery couriers over the past week.
Testing has now expanded to include all employees of the city’s beauty parlors and hair salons, the Global Times said.
Beijing city official Xu Hejian told reporters Saturday: “There is no room for us to relax.”
City officials have urged people not to leave the city, closed schools again and locked down dozens of residential compounds to stamp out the virus.
But Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiology expert at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters last week the new outbreak had been “brought under control,” and officials lifted a weeks-long lockdown imposed on seven communities in Beijing on Friday.
Half a million in lockdown as Beijing fights new coronavirus cluster
https://arab.news/r9pgb
Half a million in lockdown as Beijing fights new coronavirus cluster
- Only one person from each family will be allowed to go out once a day to purchase necessities
- Move comes after another 14 cases of the virus were reported in the past 24 hours in Beijing
Bangladesh’s Yunus announces resignation, end of interim govt
- Yunus handed over power after congratulating the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its leader Tarique Rahman
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus stepped down on Monday in a farewell broadcast to the nation before handing over to an elected government.
“Today, the interim government is stepping down,” the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said.
“But let the practice of democracy, freedom of speech, and fundamental rights that has begun not be halted.”
Yunus returned from self-imposed exile in August 2024, days after the iron-fisted government of Sheikh Hasina was overthrown by a student-led uprising and she fled by helicopter to India.
“That was the day of great liberation,” he said. “What a day of joy it was! Bangladeshis across the world shed tears of happiness. The youth of our country freed it from the grip of a demon.”
He has led Bangladesh as its “chief adviser” since, and now hands over power after congratulating the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its leader Tarique Rahman on a “landslide victory” in elections last week.
“The people, voters, political parties, and stakeholder institutions linked to the election have set a commendable example,” Yunus said.
“This election has set a benchmark for future elections.”
Rahman, 60, chief of the BNP and scion of one of the country’s most powerful political dynasties, will lead the South Asian nation of 170 million.
‘Rebuilt institutions’
Bangladeshi voters endorsed sweeping democratic reforms in a national referendum, a key pillar of Yunus’s post-uprising transition agenda, on the same day as the elections.
The lengthy document, known as the “July Charter” after the month when the uprising that toppled Hasina began, proposes term limits for prime ministers, the creation of an upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence.
“We did not start from zero — we started from a deficit,” he said.
“Sweeping away the ruins, we rebuilt institutions and set the course for reforms.”
The referendum noted that approval would make the charter “binding on the parties that win” the election, obliging them to endorse it.
However, several parties raised questions before the vote, and the reforms will still require ratification by the new parliament.
The BNP alliance won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance, according to the Election Commission.
Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman conceded on Saturday, saying his party would “serve as a vigilant, principled, and peaceful opposition.”
Newly elected lawmakers are expected to be sworn in on Tuesday, after which Tarique Rahman is set to become Bangladesh’s next prime minister.
Police records show that political clashes during the campaign period killed five people and injured more than 600.
However, despite weeks of turbulence ahead of the polls, voting day passed without major unrest and the country has responded to the results with relative calm.
