(TibetanReview.net, Aug13’22) – After Ngari Prefecture in the west and Shigatse (Chinese: Xigaze) and Lhoka (Shannan) cities in the south and capital Lhasa, the Covid-19 pandemic has now spread to Chamdo (Qamdo or Changdu) City in the eastern part of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), according to latest Chinese state media reports Aug 12 and 13.
The region reported seven new confirmed cases and 20 new asymptomatic carriers on Aug 11, reported China’s official chinadaily.com.cn Aug 12. And on Aug 12 morning, for the first time Chamdo City reported three new asymptomatic carriers, it said.
In order to protect the tourism industry, Lhasa city has prioritized testing and providing the results for stranded tourists. Besides, Chen Jing, deputy Party secretary of Lhasa, has announced that stranded tourists in Lhasa have been provided free hotels and family inns, with the city government taking care of all the accommodation costs. Shigatse earlier announced similar favourable measures.
Meanwhile, five officials in Shigatse have been removed from office on Aug 12 for not fully implementing epidemic prevention measures, reported the globaltimes.cn Aug 13. They included the head and deputy head of the city health commission, with the report not mentioning the names of any of the removed officials.
Liu Fei, deputy director of the city center for disease control and prevention, has said at an Aug 11 press briefing that the epidemic situation was severe, with the features of family clusters, as the number of positive cases was still on the rise.