China puts half a million people in lockdown as Beijing fights new cluster

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China imposed a strict lockdown on nearly half a million people in a province surrounding the capital to contain a fresh coronavirus cluster, as authorities warned the outbreak was still “severe and complicated”, AFP reported.

Health officials said that Anxin county — about 150 kilometres from Beijing — will be “fully enclosed and controlled”, the same strict measures imposed at the height of the pandemic in the city of Wuhan earlier this year.

A policeman keeps watch as people wait in line to undergo Covid-19 tests at a testing station in Beijing on June 28. —  AFP
A policeman keeps watch as people wait in line to undergo Covid-19 tests at a testing station in Beijing on June 28. — AFP

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