Covid-19 in China: people asked to stay home for the holidays as 20 new infections reported
- Communist Party and government officials in Beijing ordered not to leave city for duration of New Year and Lunar New Year holidays
- National Health Commission reports eight local and 12 imported cases on Friday
Everyone else in the capital will have to abide by strict travel controls, which include restrictions on the number of people allowed to use public transport, including trains, planes, buses and the underground.
Lunar New Year events will be downsized or cancelled, while libraries, museums, parks and other venues will open only for visits by appointment during the holiday period, the government said.
Authorities in other parts of the country, including Liaoning, Shannxi and Guangdong provinces, have also advised people against non-essential travel outside their hometowns and cities.
China’s National Health Commission said on Saturday that 20 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Friday, of which eight were locally transmitted. Of those, six were in Liaoning, in the northeast of the country, and two in Beijing, it said.
Authorities in Dalian, Liaoning, where 20 locally transmitted cases have been reported over the past 10 days, said anyone planning to leave the city would first have to be tested for Covid-19.
