[Frontline interviews]Nearly 10,000 people were quarantined in many places in Lanzhou | Cleared | Lanzhou Epidemic | Beihai Epidemic

[The Epoch Times, July 18, 2022](The Epoch Times reporters Zhao Fenghua, Hong Ning, Gu Xiaohua interviewed and reported) The CCP’s zero-clearing policy can hardly prevent the spread of the epidemic. Recently, there have been outbreaks in Lanzhou, Gansu, Beihai, Guangxi and other places, and many places have been closed again.

The Chinese Communist Party’s Health and Health Commission reported that from 0:00 to 24:00 on July 17, there were 117 new confirmed cases of the CCP virus in mainland China, including 59 in Guangxi, 28 in Gansu, and 9 in Sichuan; another new local asymptomatic infection was added. There were 393 cases, including 183 cases in Gansu, 53 cases in Guangxi, and 14 cases in Sichuan. Since the CCP has always covered up the epidemic, the actual situation has yet to be verified.

Nearly 10,000 people in Lanzhou were shut down and taken away for quarantine

Lanzhou authorities said at the epidemic press conference held on July 18 that from 10:00 on the 17th to 10:00 on the 18th, there were 22 new local confirmed cases in the city, including 20 in Chengguan District, 1 in Qilihe District and 1 in Anning District. 148 new cases of asymptomatic infection were added.

As of 10:00 on July 18, Lanzhou has reported a total of 186 local confirmed cases and 457 asymptomatic infections, including 390 in Chengguan District. On the 17th, the official extended the temporary control time for the four main districts of Chengguan District, Qilihe District, Xigu District, and Anning District to 24:00 on July 24.

From July 11, Lanzhou’s Chengguan District, Qilihe District, Xigu District, and Anning District will implement a one-week temporary control. Beginning on July 13, the closure and control measures were tightened again. All communities in the city implemented closed management, closed various entertainment and leisure venues, and “do not leave Lan Lan unless it is necessary.”

Lanzhou authorities said in a press conference on the 18th that the city has designated 76 high-risk areas and 124 medium-risk areas, opened 125 isolation points, and concentrated 9,383 people.

Mr. Lin, an employee of the Tianshui Vegetable Basket Outlet Store on Ganquan Road, Gansu, said in an interview with The Epoch Times on July 18 that all the employees of the store were taken away and quarantined at their own expense.

Mr. Lin said: “Because a confirmed patient has been to the store, on July 18, more than 40 employees in the store were all taken to the hotel for centralized isolation. , the same below), (inclusive) a deposit of 160 yuan, 120 yuan per day, and a seven-day quarantine, (the direct sales store) paid a total of 40,000 yuan.”

Ms. Chen, the owner of a restaurant on Yantan Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou City, told The Epoch Times on July 18 that the local city had been closed last week.

Ms. Chen said: “The epidemic here is very serious. Yannan and Yanbei streets, the entire area has been closed, and all shops, restaurants, etc. have been closed. They have been closed since last week. They are all at home and not allowed to go out.”

On the same day, Ms. Zhang, a resident of Yantan Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou City, confirmed to The Epoch Times that the local lockdown had been implemented.

Ms. Zhang said: “The epidemic is very serious. The whole city of Lanzhou is sealed off. You can’t come in. Police are standing on the street, and you are not allowed to walk on the street. Taxi are stopped. All the communities in the city are sealed. .”

The Epoch Times reporter then called Yanbei Street in Chengguan District, but the phone could not be connected. The reporter called the Lanzhou CDC again, and the phone kept responding to “the agent is busy” through the automatic voice system and could not be connected to the manual service.

Tourists trapped in North Sea outbreak

In addition, according to a report from the Chinese Communist Party’s Health and Health Commission, Guangxi added 59 local confirmed cases on the 17th, all in Beihai City, and another 53 new asymptomatic infections, 51 in Beihai City. The actual situation has yet to be verified.

On July 18, the Guangxi authorities stated at a press conference on the epidemic that from July 12 to 24:00 on July 17, the cumulative number of infected cases in Beihai exceeded 500, and the epidemic situation was severe and complicated. The current round of the epidemic in the North Sea was caused by the Omicron variant strain BA.2.3.

This wave of epidemics caused official shocks in Beihai City, and two officials lost their jobs due to poor epidemic prevention. The Chinese Communist Party announced on the 17th that Su Kuangfeng, deputy secretary of the Haicheng District Committee of Beihai City, and Tang Gang, director of the Health and Health Commission, were removed from their posts. Li Bin, deputy director of the National Health Commission of the Communist Party of China, was sent to Beihai to supervise epidemic prevention.

Affected by the epidemic, since 7:00 on July 16, Beihai City has implemented zoning control, and designated parts of Haicheng District and Yinhai District as red zones. From the 17th, all personnel entering and leaving the Beihai Weizhou Island tourist area will be suspended, and entertainment venues on the island will be closed. Scenic spots on the island are also temporarily closed.

During the peak tourist season, the authorities’ sudden lockdown resulted in more than 2,000 tourists stranded in the North Sea.

Ms. Liang, a tourist from Yichang, Hubei, who was traveling on Weizhou Island, told The Epoch Times on July 18 that she and her daughter were trapped on Weizhou Island due to the sudden closure by the authorities.

Ms. Liang said: “We are now on Weizhou Island. We have all done nucleic acid on the island. Yesterday (officially) we were told not to stay at all, but to leave the island. We cannot stay in Beihai, we have to book all the tickets and go directly to the island. We went to the train station and the airport. We bought all the train tickets and air tickets, and got on the boat. We were almost going to Beihai, and we were brought back.”

Ms. Liang said that more than 1,000 people were stranded on Weizhou Island, and their losses were ignored.

She said: “When I pulled it back, I just said, ‘Go to the island, you can live wherever you want to live’, and now you can’t leave. I asked for a long time, ‘Then the train tickets and planes we bought What if I lose my tickets?’ No one answered. Yesterday and today, I called the mayor’s hotline, but no one answered.”

“(Our group) has more than 1,000 people. There are children and the elderly. There are no confirmed cases, and they have all done nucleic acid. If there is no nucleic acid for 48 hours, they will not be allowed to board the ship.”

Ms. Liang said, “I arrived (Weizhou Island) on the afternoon of the 13th, and on the 15th, we were informed that we had to leave. Then we queued there on the 15th for a day to get on the boat. We We bought tickets for 11 o’clock, and we were not allowed to board the boat until 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Then we got heatstroke there, so we went back to the hotel by ourselves.

“We went back to the hotel, and no one told us to leave. The next day, I did a nucleic acid test, and received a call on the 17th to let us go.”

Ms Liang said the arranged boats were not free. “The tickets we bought by ourselves, 151 people, 180 yuan (RMB, the same below), and 220 more. Yesterday (17th) at seven o’clock in the evening, close to eight o’clock, we were pulled back again. “

Ms. Liang said that she was currently forced to stay in Beihai, and she was charged 150 yuan a day to live in a homestay.

She said: “The North Sea is closed, and we are now staying in the hotel we booked before. Yesterday, the whole people did nucleic acid tests, and they have done it before. If there is no nucleic acid for 48 hours, they will not be allowed to board the ship.”

Ms. Liang was worried and didn’t know when she would be able to go out. “I don’t know when I will be able to go out. I refunded my flight ticket yesterday, and I lost more than 630 yuan in air tickets and train tickets. If I don’t refund it, I will lose even more.

“The owner of the homestay said that the prices of everything they bought have gone up, and now the whole boat has stopped, and they didn’t tell us when it stopped.”

Another tourist, Mr. Li, told The Epoch Times on the 18th that he and his friends traveled to Weizhou Island from Yibin on the 12th, but were trapped due to the epidemic.

He said: “The current situation is that there is no movement from village to village on the island. At present, the government has not notified when you can leave. Everything is pending.

“Anyway, the two ships that came to pick up people (from Weizhou Island) yesterday (17th), about several thousand people (these people were all pulled back). What we need is someone to reply, how long can we leave here? Said that the Beihai side is not allowed to dock, so I came back, and now no one has come out to explain, just told us to wait. The air ticket booked has been refunded, and the handling fee has been deducted. “

“Hey, I don’t regret it, I regret it even more!” said Mr. Li.

Chengdu strain has no homologous sequence in China

In addition, a rapidly spreading virus variant was found in Chengdu, Sichuan. From 18:00 on July 18, you must hold a negative nucleic acid test certificate within 48 hours before leaving.

According to Health Sichuan official WeChat, the current round of epidemic in Chengdu is a VOC/Omicron BA.2.12.1 variant strain (ie BG.2 evolutionary branch) after viral gene sequencing; no homologous sequence was found in the domestic local epidemic database, but in the global database The smallest difference in the virus genome is the virus sequence uploaded in Germany in May, and its transmission speed is 1.2 times that of BA.2. ◇

Responsible editor: Gao Jing#