Shijiazhuang to intensify zero COVID efforts

Shijiazhuang will strictly carry out the 20 measures announced by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council on Friday and any nonconformity found will be rectified, authorities in the capital city of Hebei province said in an open letter to citizens on Saturday.

The city, which is suffering a new round of COVID-19 epidemic, recorded three local confirmed COVID-19 cases and 541 asymptomatic carriers on Sunday, according to the Health Commission of Hebei on Monday.

While designating high-risk areas that bear high risk of infections, the city will implement normalized epidemic prevention and control measures in an effort to maintain normal production and life order, the letter said.

It also noted that the city will strengthen the protection of the elderly, children, patients with basic diseases and other vulnerable groups, and fully meet the basic needs of citizens for medical treatment, winter heating and classes.

However, the letter also said adjustments of measures are not a relaxation of epidemic prevention and control efforts. Citizens still need to stick to existing measures like nucleic acid testing.

In the letter, some hot line numbers are provided for citizens to report measures that are not in accordance with the 20 measures, such as expanding the scope of static management arbitrarily.