(TibetanReview.net, Aug19’22) – As Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) struggles to contain its first Covid-19 outbreak since early 2020, its testing capacity has fallen short, leaving thousands of travellers stranded during the peak tourism season. The outbreak that started last week has grown to over 3,400 infections as of Aug 17, reported the caixinglobal.com Aug 18, citing national and local authorities, forcing officials to use mass testing and lockdowns as they try to stop the virus from spreading further.
On Aug 18, the People’s Republic of China reported 559 locally transmitted confirmed Covid-19 cases, of which 441 were in Hainan Province,52 to Shaanxi Province and 15 in TAR, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency and shine.cn (news website run by Shanghai Daily) Aug 19, citing the National Health Commission Aug 19. Yes, TAR had the third highest number of reported symptomatic cases.
The report also said that altogether 2,119 local asymptomatic carriers were newly identified throughout the RPC on the day, including 1,058 in Hainan, 665 (compared to 870 the day before) in TAR and 221 in Xinjiang. Yes, TAR had the second highest number asymptomatic cases in the PRC on that day.
The total number of new Covid-19 infections reported from across the PRC on Aug 18 was 2,678, down from 3,424 a day earlier reported the official globaltimes.cn Aug 18.
The PRC’s Covid-19 cases surged to a three-month high this week, driven by a worsening outbreak in the tropical Hainan province that has become the country’s biggest since Shanghai was shut down in the spring.
The rising number of infections also caused alarm elsewhere, with hundreds of vehicles stuck on a state highway in TAR after a neighbouring province refused to allow more travellers from the hard-hit region to enter. A decision by officials in Yunnan province to deny entry to travellers from TAR over the weekend because of a lack of quarantine facilities created a four-mile (6.4km) traffic jam involving hundreds of cars, despite police urging residents to avoid the routes that had backed up, reported the Bloomberg.com Aug 19.
Elsewhere, at least 29 passengers aboard a train that started from Lhasa in Tibet on Aug 15 and arrived in Beijing on Aug 17 had tested positive after they disembarked at different stations, reported the official chinadaily.com.cn Aug 19. Of them, 2 tested positive in Beijing, 13 in Hebei, 5 in Henan, 7 in Shanxi, 1 in Shandong and 1 in Gansu, the report said.
Also, the globaltimes.cn report said Xining city in Qinghai Province reported on Aug 18 four new asymptomatic infections among people coming from TAR and had been placed under quarantine upon arrival.
The report added that at least six provinces or municipalities – Qinghai, Central China’s Hubei and Hunan, and East China’s Fujian, Zhejiang and Shanghai – had reported infections among people who had a travel history involving TAR.
The report said the risk of spillover cases from Xizang (TAR) to other provinces had been increasing as the summer vacation travel reached its peak.