急ピッチで進む大規模隔離施設の建設　中国・河北省

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国北部の河北省石家荘郊外で、市内で拡大する新型コロナウイルスの感染を封じ込めるため、大規模な隔離施設の建設が24時間態勢で進められ、広大な土地が何千ものプレハブで埋め尽くされている。（写真は中国北部の河北省石家荘市に建設される、新型コロナウイルス対策の隔離施設）
中国は新型コロナウイルスの流行をおおむね抑制してきたものの、局地的で小規模な集団感染が相次いで報告されていることから、大規模な検査や厳格なロックダウン（都市封鎖）が実施される他、隔離施設が準備されている。
　石家荘市郊外の建設現場は、武漢で昨年初めにわずか１０日で設置された仮設病院を想起させる。
　１３日に着工し、あと数日で完成予定の隔離施設は、浴室、ＷｉＦｉ、エアコンを完備しており、新型コロナウイルス感染者の濃厚接触者らを受け入れるという。
　国営の中国中央テレビ（ＣＣＴＶ）は１９日、この施設は４０００人以上を収容できる見通しだと報じた。
　国家衛生健康委員会（ＮＨＣ）の幹部は先週、来月の春節（旧正月）休暇が流行の抑止に「難題を突き付ける」ことが予想されると述べ、感染拡大の新たな波が押し寄せることへの警戒を示していた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/01/20-09:12）

Thousands of prefabricated rooms fill a vast field on the outskirts of China's Shijiazhuang city as construction crews work around the clock to erect a large quarantine facility to curb the city's growing Covid-19 outbreak.
China has largely brought the virus under control even as the rest of the world struggles with mounting deaths and overburdened hospitals.
But a spate of small, localised outbreaks has prompted Chinese officials to order mass testing, strict lockdowns and to prepare to move full villages into the quarantine facility to stamp out a resurgence.
The scenes outside Shijiazhuang, northern China, are reminiscent of Beijing's efforts early last year to build makeshift field hospitals in Wuhan -- the central city where Covid-19 cases first emerged -- within days.
The quarantine buildings in Shijiazhuang are equipped with bathrooms, Wi-fi and air conditioning and will house close contacts of confirmed virus patients once completed in the next few days.
State broadcaster CCTV showed workers in high-visibility vests and hard hats assembling the cabin-like structures in the dark, while flags bearing the names of construction teams and Communist Party units fluttered from the completed buildings.
The facility is expected to have enough rooms to hold more than 4,000 people once it is completed, CCTV said Tuesday.
Work began on January 13 as northern Chinese cities placed millions under lockdown over hundreds of new infections in recent weeks.
Over 20,000 residents of villages in the surrounding Hebei province have been sent into quarantine in centralised facilities, state media reported last week.
Meanwhile, millions of local residents have been tested for the virus multiple times.
China is on high alert for a potential wave of cases triggered by the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, which is expected to pose massive challenges to virus prevention, senior national health official Wang Bin said last week.
Millions of city dwellers are set to travel to their home towns for celebrations.
Virus cases have surged around the world in recent weeks, with the global death toll now past two million.