Residents in a Chinese city bordering Russia were offered large cash rewards for information on the ongoing Delta outbreak. Local officials declared a "people’s war" against the virus.
As the total number of cases from this outbreak was 240, authorities announced a reward of 100,000 Yuan ($15,640) for residents of Heihei in north-eastern Heilongjiang Province.
The declaration stated that it was hoped that the public would actively participate in the virus tracing and offer clues to the probe.
Officials in the border city have asked people to report illegal hunting, animal trafficking, and people crossing the border to catch fish. The warning also included severe penalties for those who deliberately conceal pertinent information.
China's health commissioner reported that another 62 locally transmitted symptoms were reported on Monday and 43 on Tuesday. This is in addition to the more than 940 cases in at least 20 provinces since October. It was the worst outbreak in China since Wuhan in early 2020.
The government has committed to a Covid Zero strategy and is using an increasing number of measures to eradicate the virus from the community.
Authorities in Henan have stated they will "catch the virus" within one week. Lou Yangsheng, provincial party secretary, has pledged to increase lockdowns as well as contact tracing if necessary.
Authorities in Chengdu have increased tracing orders and measures, reportedly identifying people if they transmit through the same cell tower within a 14-day period.
This measure is called "spacial-temporal overlap" and it classifies someone as a close friend if they were within 800 metres of a case for longer than 10 minutes or if both parties spent more than 30 hours in the area during the two week period.
Authorities ordered 82,000 people to be tested at a large shopping center and then had them self-isolated. Some people were seen climbing over fences in order to avoid the mandatory testing.
After a previous visitor with the disease was diagnosed, authorities placed Shanghai Disneyland under lockdown and tested all visitors.
Health officials are urging children to get booster shots as soon as possible because of the ongoing outbreak.
Wang Qinghua is the chief immunologist at the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said that children used to be thought to be unaffected by Covid-19. However, the situation has changed since the virus mutated.
According to state media, he stated that there have been an increase in infections among children. The rates of severe illness, mortality, and death in certain countries surpassing influenza. He also said that the hospitalization rate for children has increased by more than 10 percent.
Global Times reports that health authorities have set a goal to vaccinate all eligible children between 3 and 11 years old by the end of this year. According to government data, more than 3.5 million doses have been given to this age group. China offers no vaccines.
