In Dandong, life resumes with restrictions

The city of Dandong, Liaoning province will resume normal life and production starting on Friday under COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control requirements, a statement released by the city's epidemic prevention and control headquarters said on Thursday night.

The city will have precautionary zones, the statement said, and asked that residents avoid unnecessary trips out of the city.

Except for those in lockdown or controlled zones, residents can move across the city if they have a negative nucleic acid test result taken within 48 hours, the statement said.

Mass testing will be conducted every two days in the main urban area while some focus groups and residents in lockdown or controlled zones will receive daily testing and residents in precautionary zones will be tested twice weekly.

Service businesses, such as shopping malls, supermarkets, barbershops and public restrooms will resume under COVID-19 prevention and control requirements.

Such businesses should require customer appointments and limit visitors to prevent overcrowding, the statement said.

All schools, including kindergartens, primary schools, high schools and vocational schools will continue courses online.

Taxis are allowed to resume service across the main urban areas while other public transportation services remain suspended.

Top provincial officials urged local government to ensure that the public has access to medical services.

"Local authorities should keep track of the number and needs of special demographics, including patients who need dialysis or radiation therapy, as well as pregnant women and newborns, so that local health workers can promptly provide medical services if needed," Li Lecheng, governor of Liaoning, said during a video presentation to the city's COVID-19 prevention and control workers.

He also stressed that local authorities should solve problems such as inadequate preparation and insufficient work during the process.

A 41-year-old woman, surnamed Hao, was given 10-day administrative detention for obstructing police in the performance of their duty, and her 70-year-old father was detained, according to a statement released by local police in Dandong on Thursday.

The police said Hao and her father had yellow health codes an refused to abide by epidemic control measures.

A video clip of the incident was posted online. In the footage, the woman and her father are shown being stopped by a police officer at a checkpoint. The daughter gets out of the car and argues with the officer, claiming she was sending her father to the hospital. She also said the local residential community had issued a traffic permit for her. The two engage in a shoving match before the father steps forward to slap the police officer.

Liaoning reported seven local asymptomatic carriers on Thursday. All the cases were found in Dandong, the provincial health commission said on Friday.

Cao Yin contributed to this story.