China is facing a new surge in coronavirus cases in its frozen north-east as a World Health Organisation team arrives to investigate the origins of the pandemic.
For the first time in months on Thursday China reported its first new death attributed to Covid-19, raising the toll to 4,635 from 87,844 cases. China's relatively low case figures are a testimony to the effectiveness of strict containment, tracing and quarantine measures, but also raises questions about the tight hold the government maintains on all information related to the outbreak.
The National Health Commission said Heilongjiang province in the region, traditionally known as Manchuria, recorded 43 new cases, most of them in the city of Suihua outside the provincial capital of Harbin. The northern province of Hebei just outside Beijing, which recorded China's most serious recent outbreak, recorded another 81 cases, marking the second straight day China's total number of local infections rose into triple digits. Another 14 cases were brought in from outside the country.
China has put more than 20 million people under varying degrees of lockdown in Hebei, Beijing and other areas to stem infections ahead of next month's Lunar New Year holiday. The government cut travel links to and from several cities, urged people to stay put for the holiday, postponed important political gatherings and plans to let schools out a week early to reduce the chances of infection.
WHO inquiry begins
Also on Thursday, a 10-member WHO team arrived in the central city of Wuhan where the virus was first detected in late 2019. The visit was approved by President Xi Jinping’s government after months of diplomatic wrangling that prompted an unusual public complaint by the head of the WHO.
-
A member of a medical team weeps at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport after travel restrictions were lifted. Reuters -
Medical workers from The First Bethune Hospital of Jilin University cheer during a ceremony at the airport as they prepare to leave after the lockdown was lifted in Wuhan, China. EPA -
A woman carries a child as she walks past waiting travelers inside the Hankou railway station in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Bloomberg -
Medical workers wave goodbye to a medical team from Jilin at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport after travel restrictions were lifted. Reuters -
A railway worker speaks in a loudspeaker next to the first official train departing from a railway station after the lockdown was lifted in Wuhan, China. EPA -
Passengers go through the security and body temperature check at the railway station after the lockdown was lifted in Wuhan, China. EPA -
Passengers wait to enter the railway station after the lockdown was lifted, in Wuhan. EPA -
Hankou railway station is seen in this aerial photograph taken in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Bloomberg -
Medical staff from Jilin Province hug nurses from Wuhan after working together during the coronavirus outbreak, during a ceremony before leaving as Tianhe Airport is reopened. AFP -
Bullet trains at a station in preparation for resuming operations after authorities lifted a more than two-month ban on outbound travel in Wuhan. AFP -
People wearing face masks arrive at Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan to take one of the first trains leaving the city. AFP -
A woman adjusts her child's mask as they arrive at Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan. AFP -
Police officers stand guard near an inflatable depicting a police officer at a toll station of an expressway after travel restrictions to leave Wuhan were lifted. Reuters -
Medical workers walk by a police robot at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport. Reuters
State broadcaster CGTN said the team will be quarantined for two weeks and will undergo testing for the virus.
Scientists suspect the virus that has killed 1.9 million people since late 2019 jumped to human beings from bats or other animals, most likely in China’s south-west.
The WHO team includes virus and other experts from the United States, Australia, Germany, Japan, Britain, Russia, the Netherlands, Qatar and Vietnam.
