China floods: Death toll rises to 302, as COVID outbreak complicates recovery

[ad_1]

Heavy rain hit Henan Province on July 20, causing floods in many towns and cities. Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of 12 million people, was one of the worst-hit, with entire neighborhoods inundated and passengers drowning in submerged subway cars.

A total of 50 people are still missing across Henan, the vast majority of whom are from Zhengzhou, said Wu Guoding, deputy governor of the province, at a press conference on Monday.

Of the total deaths, 292 were from Zhengzhou, Wu said. Most were killed by floods and landslides, dozens were killed in house collapses, and 39 others drowned in underground spaces including basements and garages.

Among the drowning deaths are 14 dead in a flooded subway line, as many commuters were stranded in subway wagons up to their necks in flood waters, as fast-moving currents swept through the underground network of tunnels.

Dramatic videos showing people clinging to ceiling knobs to keep their heads above water shocked the nation and made headlines around the world. Authorities said more than 500 passengers of the metro line were evacuated several days after the initial flooding.

Six more people were killed in a completely flooded road tunnel, trapping passengers in their cars inside. Rescue teams spent days pumping flood waters from a tunnel in downtown Zhengzhou.

In a statement on Monday, China’s State Council said it had set up a team to “investigate and assess” the floods and deaths. The statement said the team would review whether there was a “dereliction of duty” and “will hold people accountable in accordance with laws and regulations.”

The floods hit small towns and villages as well, with rivers swelling beyond warning levels and many reservoirs overflowing, affecting hundreds of thousands of people, according to state media. The severity of the flooding was captured by several videos shared on Chinese social media, which showed people and cars swept away in the surging torrents.

Covid challenges

The coronavirus outbreak has exacerbated the challenges facing Zhengzhou as the city struggles to recover from devastating floods, and as of Monday, Zhengzhou had reported 13 locally transmitted asymptomatic cases and 50 asymptomatic cases, which were counted separately, according to the state administration. Xinhua News Agency. Most of the cases are related to outbreaks in the hospital, where cleaners, medical staff and patients are among those infected. Only a handful of Zhengzhou’s confirmed cases have no clear links to the hospital – but they either live nearby or have traveled in the hospital’s vicinity, according to state media Global Times. With the highly contagious delta variant — which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned last week it can spread as easily as chickenpox, even among fully vaccinated people. As authorities continue their clean-up, search and rescue and flood investigation efforts, a comprehensive testing effort for all residents should also be launched, according to the Global Times.

It is not clear if the Zhengzhou outbreak is linked to another cluster of delta infections in the eastern city of Nanjing, which has spread across the country in the past two weeks.

The ongoing outbreak – the worst in China in months – began in late July when nine airport cleaners in Nanjing were detected infected during routine testing. Since then, locally transmitted cases of Covid have been reported in at least 16 provinces across China, including a tourist hot spot in southern Hunan Province and the capital, Beijing.

The country reported 90 new asymptomatic and 23 asymptomatic cases on Tuesday, according to the National Health Commission. Most of the infections have been confirmed as delta-type, according to health officials at various regional press conferences.

Millions of people are now subject to movement restrictions. Nanjing has launched several rounds of mass testing for its 9.3 million residents, and closed apartment complexes with confirmed cases. Public places such as bars, gyms and libraries are closed.

Similar measures and partial lockdowns have been implemented in place in Zhangjiajie, where a theater performance attended by thousands of attendees raised fears of a super-spreading event. Restrictions have also been intensified in the national capital, Beijing, which has banned people from entering areas of medium or high risk.

CNN’s Beijing office contributed to this report.

.

[ad_2]