Lhasa 13 August : Authorities in Xinjiang are warning those who violate quarantine laws with as much as three weeks of detention as a result of a new epidemic of Covid-19 in the region, which has seen the number of cases increase dramatically since the beginning of this month, according to reports in the media.The announcement comes after Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) capital Lhasa has entered a three-day time-out of lockdown in de facto due to the increasing amount of instances of covid-19 in Lhasa, RFA reported.
On Friday, officials announced they had detected COVID-19 cases that are asymptomatic in Xinjiang which brings the total number of cases to 1,727 while the area continues to battle with an outbreak that has prompted strict lockdowns.
A township official in Qorghas county’s Langar township, which oversees 10 families in Yengiavat village.
He told RFA that the authorities are conducting street patrols to make sure that no one leaves their homes during the continuous lockdown in the area.They have also informed residents that they could be held up to three weeks for violating the lockdown if they violate the law, RFA reported.
“We are informing people living in the area that anyone who break the rules, i.e people who walk on the streets are being punished and sentenced to 15 days of “re-education,”” explained the official who spoke on the an ‘advanced’ basis of anonymity using a euphemism that is used commonly to refer to the term “detention” in the area.
In the TAR in which authorities claim they had identified 20 symptoms as well as 127 non-symptomatic COVID-19-related infections as of Friday the officials in the capital city of Lhasa declared a nationwide “disinfection” operation that will run from August 12-15, when people aren’t allowed to go out of their homes, RFA reported.
The sources in the city said that the order was an actual three-day lockdown however, officials have resisted from using the phrase.
The people who have been confirmed positive are being kept in quarantine while public testing is in progress the group said, even though authorities haven’t been able to make sure that residents are properly distancing in the event of a positive test.
“Since Covid cases are rising in Lhasa and some other regions, those who were in lodges and hotels in these areas and might be in contact with people infected with the disease are taking precautions to stay safe,” a source in Tibet told RFA.
“People are subjected to constant tests, Potala Palace and other sites of worship are closed schools have delayed their reopenings, and citizens are buying food items and purchasing masks for their faces.”
The summer tourism season is in full in full in Lhasa – even despite fears that the outbreak could be caused by visitors to the region and the region – with Chinese tourists arriving in large numbers via train, plane, or automobile from other regions of China according to the source told RFA.RFA said.
“Tibetan religious pilgrims looking to travel to Lhasa from all over the region are facing difficulties getting travel permits, while Chinese travelers have no difficulty getting permits to travel to Tibet,” he added.
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