COVID-19 cases on the rise in China as Beijing, several provinces continue to report spike
Beijing (PTI): Authorities in the Chinese capital are ramping up measures like testing and restricting hotel bookings as the total number of coronavirus cases climbed to nine on Saturday, while other parts of the country reported 38 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, according to the National Health Commission.
Five persons who tested positive in Beijing had travelled to Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Shanxi Province from Oct. 12 to Oct. 15, and returned to Beijing on Oct. 16.
Another person was a close contact, according to the municipal health commission.
This is in addition to the 32 cases reported nationwide on Friday.
The spike has prompted health officials in Beijing and other provinces to step up with measures like testing, isolation of communities, cancelling hotel bookings, and the use of sanitisers and masks.
The current spike in cases has been attributed to an elderly couple from Shanghai who flew to several cities including the tourist city of Xian, and tested positive for COVID-19, sending officials on a leather hunt to trace scores of people who came in contact with them.
Within three days of an announcement that the couple had tested positive in Xian on Saturday, hundreds of close contacts of the couple and their five travel companions, who later tested positive, had been identified.
During this period, several cities had rolled out mass testing, a land port stopped operating and popular locations visited by the group were closed for disinfection, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Such cases causing periodic outbreaks presents considerable logistical and economic challenges to China despite administering vaccines to three quarters of its population.
On Saturday, China said more than 2.243 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in the country so far.
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Four arrested, minor detained for killing teenager in UP's Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur (UP)(PTI) Police on Tuesday arrested four persons and detained a boy in connection with the killing of a teenager at a school here, officials said.
The arrested accused have been identified as Dayanand alias Chhotu, Hrithik Roshan alias Roshan, Uday alias Kishan Kumar and Deepak, all residents of Pipraich police station area here and aged 19-20, the police officials said.
The detained minor will be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, they said.
Police recovered a country-made pistol and a motorcycle allegedly used by the accused in the commission of the crime, they added.
Superintendent of Police (North) Gyanendra Nath Prasad said the arrests were made following sustained investigation and technical surveillance, and further legal proceedings were underway.
According to police, Sudhir Bharti (17), a class 11 student, was shot dead by the accused on December 26 over old enmity and a dispute triggered by social media posts in the playground of a school in the Pipraich area here.
Based on the complaint filed by Bharti's family, a case was registered under sections 103(1) (punishment for murder) and 61(2) (party to a criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant provisions of the Arms Act.
According to eyewitnesses, Bharti was in the playground when he had an argument with a person from the same neighbourhood.
The argument escalated and the accused shot him with a country-made pistol, killing him on the spot, they said.
