3 Cities Urged To Stay Put During Upcoming Spring Festival

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hree places have issued notices to encourage citizens and workers to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival in the areas where they work to prevent the resurgence of COVID-19.

 
Experts called for local governments to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach, and take COVID-19 prevention measures accordingly, to balance virus prevention and guarantee people’s lives.

The Economic and Technological Development Zone of Zhangjiakou, (Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games) announced on Thursday that local government-related staff and state-owned enterprises should stay within the city during the Chinese New Year. Those who need to leave the city must get approval in advance.

They should also dissuade relatives and friends from medium- and high-risk areas from coming to Zhangjiakou, said the announcement.

The other two places – one in South China’s Guangdong Province and one in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region – made similar calls.

Sanxiang township of Zhongshan city in Guangdong urged employees of different enterprises in the town on Saturday not to leave Guangdong if it’s not necessary.

Pingxiang city in South China’s Guangxi appealed to local shop owners and workers last week to stay put during the Spring Festival.

Some universities in Beijing (Peking University and the Renmin University of China) announced plans to start the winter vacation a week early. Others announced plans to finish in-class courses by the end of November and allow students to take final examinations online.

“As the risks of domestic coronavirus transmission may increase during the upcoming New Year and Spring Festival, efforts are made in controlling the pandemic through a science-based and targeted approach to make sure of a healthy and safe festival for all Chinese people,” said Wu Liangyou, a deputy director of the National Health Commission, at a press conference on Saturday, 18. December.

Wang Guangfa, a respiratory expert at Peking University First Hospital said that it is still too early to decide whether other places should follow and ask residents to stay put during the Chinese New Year.

“China emphasizes precise pandemic control based on different conditions in different regions instead of implementing the same policy across the nation. The precise pandemic control reflects the balance China tries to keep between preventing the pandemic from spreading and guaranteeing people a normal life, “ said Wang.