流行の発生源有力情報に報奨金　コロナとの「人民戦争」　中国黒河市

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国黒竜江省の黒河市はこのほど、新型コロナウイルスとの「人民戦争」の一環として、流行発生源追跡の手掛かりとなる情報提供者に報奨金１０万元（約１８０万円）を支払うと発表した。（写真は資料写真）
　中国では変異株「デルタ株」の流行で感染が急拡大しており、２０の省や地域で感染が確認されている。９日の全国の新規感染者数は４３人で、３週間にわたり２桁台が続いている。
　各国が新型コロナ関連の規制を緩和する中、中国は引き続き感染者ゼロを目指す「ゼロコロナ」政策を掲げている。これまでは、厳しい国境閉鎖やロックダウン（都市封鎖）、長期隔離などの措置により感染を抑えてきた。
　しかし、現在４０都市以上で感染が拡大している。
　ロシアと国境を接する黒河市はこのような状況を受け、新型コロナの流行発生源につながる情報の提供者に１０万元の報奨金を支払うとしている。
　市政府は「今回の流行の発生源を一刻も早く明らかにし感染の鎖を突き止めるため、流行の予防と管理のための人民戦争の遂行が求められる」と説明した。
　市は、密輸や密猟、密漁を見つけたら直ちに報告するとともに、オンラインで買い物をして海外から輸入した場合「直ちに消毒」し検査するよう要請している。
　中国では最新の流行で数百万人がロックダウンの対象となっている。国内の移動制限も強化され、飛行機や列車も運休された。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/11/09-18:25）

A Covid-hit Chinese city is offering thousands of dollars for anyone giving clues in tracing the source of its latest outbreak, as part of a people's war to stamp out one of the country's largest resurgences in months.
China reported 43 local cases on Tuesday in a Delta-driven surge that has fanned out to 20 provinces and regions, keeping new case numbers in the double-digits over the past three weeks.
As more countries lift Covid measures, Beijing officials have stuck stubbornly to a zero-Covid strategy that has maintained low infection numbers due to strict border closures, targeted lockdowns and long quarantines.
But the current outbreak has hit more than 40 cities, and officials in Heihe -- a northern city on the border with Russia -- said they would offer 100,000 yuan ($15,500) as a reward for information.
In order to uncover the source of this virus outbreak as soon as possible and find out the chain of transmission, it is necessary to wage a people's war of epidemic prevention and control, the city government said in a notice.
Officials said cases of smuggling, illegal hunting and cross-border fishing should be reported immediately, adding that those who have bought imported goods online ought to immediately sterilise them and send them for tests.
The latest wave has seen millions put under lockdown and domestic travel rules tightened, with many planes and trains cancelled.
A cluster in central Henan province has been linked to schools, as health authorities urged more rapid vaccination of children.
Over 3.5 million vaccine doses have been given to children aged between three and 11, according to official data.
Beijing's rigorous anti-virus stance -- which has been used as political capital to extol the virtues of China's leadership -- has started to draw more public debate in recent weeks.
In an interview with Phoenix Television being shared on Chinese social media, virologist and University of Hong Kong professor Guan Yi appeared to call for better data to evaluate China's vaccine efficacy.
We should not be carrying out mass nucleic acid tests at every turn to detect Covid-19 cases, or blindly taking booster jabs, he said.
He instead urged antibody tests and timely updates by vaccine makers on the effectiveness of their jabs against variants.
The country has five conditionally approved vaccines, but their published efficacy rates -- varying between around 50 and 82 percent -- lag behind rival jabs from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
The official Xinhua news agency has lashed out against critics of China's approach, saying strict containment measures are still the best way to save lives and calling Beijing's efforts unquestionable.