Shijiazhuang goes on lockdown to curb infection

Latest updates on COVID-19 outbreak in Hebei province: 

 A lockdown has been imposed on Hebei's capital city Shijiazhuang. (read more)

 Vehicles are not allowed to enter or exit Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital. 

 Many flights to and from Shijiazhuang have been canceled, railway station closed to passengers leaving the city.

 51 new confirmed cases and 69 asymptomatic carriers are reported in Hebei on Thursday. 

Video provided by Zhang Hao of Hebei Daily

Vehicles are not allowed to enter or exit all areas administrated by Shijiazhuang, except for those transporting materials or necessities for the city's fight against the current outbreak, according to a notice released on Thursday by the city's anti-virus working group. 

Vehicles carrying materials for medical use, life essentials and production are allowed to enter or leave the city with a certificate issued by related authorities, the notice said.

Each vehicle can only have two persons, who need to be checked for ID cards and negative nucleic acid test results.

Vehicles for public affairs like military or police cars, firefighting vehicles and ambulances are not limited if passengers have normal temperatures.

Shijiazhuang has become the epicenter of a new round of COVID-19, with 83 confirmed cases as of Thursday that have all emerged since the weekend.

Shijiazhuang has suspended more major transport links with outside places to lower infection risks as the city reported the biggest rise in daily COVID-19 cases since the new outbreak occurred at the weekend.

It reported 50 new locally transmitted cases on Thursday, among 51 in Hebei, and 52 in the Chinese mainland.

Many flights to and from Shijiazhuang have been canceled since Thursday morning, according to authorities in Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport.

The airport is less than 10 kilometers away from Gaocheng district, the only high-risk area for infection in Chinese mainland. Most cases in Shijiazhuang are centered in the district.

Shijiazhuang Railway Station, the biggest station in the city, has stopped passengers from taking trains to leave, according to a notice by the city's security bureau.

Train tickets departing Shijiazhuang were also stopped earlier. Tickets can be refunded without extra fees charged.

Xingtai, another city in Hebei, which also has reported confirmed cases in recent days, suspended six buses on Thursday. It already stopped 20 buses on Wednesday, according to the city's public transport company.

Before Thursday, cross-city buses, shuttle buses between the airport to its downtown center and neighboring areas, as well as expressways had been suspended.

Hebei reported 51 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 69 asymptomatic carriers on Thursday, all locally transmitted, bringing its total of recently confirmed cases to 90 and local asymptomatic carriers to 144, according to the Health Commission of Hebei.