The quarantine camp is located on the outskirts of Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital of Hebei Province, which surrounds the country’s capital Beijing.
China is largely holding back the spread of the virus, with much of the country returning to normal. However, a sudden rise in cases alarmed employees and expressed concern ahead of the Lunar New Year, the county’s most important annual festival, during which hundreds of millions of people are expected to travel to visit family members.
Officials in Shijiazhuang, where the epidemic is rampant, have initiated mass tests and severe blockades, moving entire villages to centralized quarantine facilities in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus.
The new quarantine camp will maintain close contact with confirmed patients with Covid-1
It was originally planned to accommodate 3,000 people, but has since been expanded to a capacity of 4,160. More than 4,000 construction workers have done “six-day and night work” to complete the first phase, Shijiazhuang Deputy Mayor Meng Xianghong said on Tuesday.
Authorities began construction on January 13th, and the first section of the camp is now complete and ready for use, while construction continues in the second phase, according to state television CCTV.
Each prefabricated room is expected to be 18 square meters (about 194 square meters) and will come with a private bathroom and shower, desks, chairs, beds, Wi-Fi and a TV, according to CCTV.
Last Wednesday, a patient died in Hebei, the country’s first Covid-19-related death in 242 days.
The total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in mainland China now stands at 88,557, while the official death toll is 4,635.
In an attempt to control the outbreak, authorities locked Shijiazhuang on January 8, barring all 11 million residents from leaving the city.
Since then, more than 20,000 citizens from 12 villages in Shijiangzhou have been relocated to other quarantine sites as a precautionary measure, Chinese state media CGTN reported last week.
To date, more than 17 million people have been tested in Hebei, and authorities are currently undertaking a second round of mass tests in Shijiazhuang and the cities of Xingtai and Langfang.
Authorities in Hebei are now urging residents to stay at home, with officials sent to urban and rural areas to impose measures and ensure that people do not travel through the province and Beijing.
In response to the threat, Beijing authorities stepped up tests and inspections after the cases were confirmed in the capital’s most remote neighborhood, Daxin, and announced on Wednesday that they would close two nearby subway stations until further notice.
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