NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Volunteers and government officials in Shanghai set up metal barriers in several districts to block small streets and entrances to apartment complexes, while China tightens its strict “zero-COVID” approach in its largest city despite growing complaints from residents.
In the city’s financial district, Pudong, the barriers — thin sheet metal or chain-link fences — were erected in several neighborhoods on orders from the local government, according to Caixin, a Chinese business media company. Buildings where cases were found sealed their main entrances with a small opening for pandemic prevention workers to walk through.
A worker has a throat swab taken at a coronavirus testing site near a commercial office complex in Beijing on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Beijing is on high alert after 10 middle school students tested positive for COVID-19 in what city officials said was a first round of testing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
In Beijing, authorities announced a mass test in Chaoyang District, home to more than 3 million people in the Chinese capital, starting Monday.
The announcement sparked panic buying on Sunday night, with vegetables, eggs, soy sauce and other items being swiped from grocery shelves.
A new outbreak has infected at least 41 people, including 26 in Chaoyang District, state broadcaster CGTN reported.
FRANKLIN GRAHAM PRAISES ELON MUSK’S PRO-FREE-REDE ATTITUDE ON POSSIBLE TWITTER PURCHASE
China on Sunday reported 21,796 new community-transmitted COVID-19 infections, with the vast majority being asymptomatic cases in Shanghai. Across the country, many cities and provinces have enforced some form of lockdown to slow the spread of the virus.
A woman lifts a child to receive a COVID-19 test at a private mobile coronavirus testing facility in Beijing, China, Sunday, April 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
The recent outbreak, caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant, has spread across the country but was particularly large in Shanghai. The city, a financial hub of 25 million people, has counted hundreds of thousands of cases but fewer than 100 deaths since the outbreak began nearly two months ago.
An Associated Press investigation into the death toll found that despite narrow criteria for linking deaths to certain diseases, particularly COVID-19, authorities have changed the way they count positive cases, leaving investigative leeway the final number of deaths. The result is almost certainly an undercount of the true death toll.
A woman lifts her child to receive a COVID-19 test at a private mobile coronavirus testing facility Sunday, April 24, 2022 in Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
On social media, people posted videos of the new barriers being erected on Saturday and some have expressed anger at the measures. The barriers are intended to leave main roads free, Caixin reported.
In video verified by AP, residents exiting a building in Shanghai’s Xuhui district broke down the chain link barricade at its front entrance and searched for the security guard they believe was responsible for erecting it.
Shanghai uses a tiered system, categorizing neighborhoods into three categories based on transmission risk. Those in the first category are subject to the strictest COVID-19 controls and have been the primary target of the new tightened measures. In the third category, some buildings allow people to leave their homes and visit public areas.
Workers queue to have a throat swab taken at a coronavirus testing site near a commercial office complex in Beijing, Sunday, April 24, 2022. Beijing is on high alert after 10 middle school students tested positive for COVID-19 in what city officials said was a first round of testing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
DC MAYOR SHORTS ‘EASY ACCESS’ TO WEAPONS AFTER SHOOTING THAT INJURED 4 INCLUDING ONE CHILD
In Shanghai, authorities reported 39 new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the official death toll to 4,725 by the end of Saturday, the National Health Commission said on Sunday.
A woman wearing a face mask to protect herself from the coronavirus walks Sunday, April 24. Beijing is on alert after 10 middle school students tested positive for COVID-19 in what city officials said was a first round of testing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
The city’s lockdown has drawn global attention for its severe crackdown and sometimes dangerous consequences. Difficulty obtaining food, many of the city’s residents resorted to bartering and bulk buying. Others could not receive medical care in time due to strict movement controls.
On Friday, Chinese netizens shared a six-minute video titled “Voices of April,” documenting some of the most challenging public moments the city has experienced during the nearly month-long lockdown. One section contains audio recordings of residents in a community in Shanghai protesting on April 8, shouting, “Send us food! Send us food! Send us food!” unanimously.
A man wearing a face mask walks past a masked security guard guarding a barricaded entrance with a health QR code and temperature scanner at a commercial office complex, Sunday April 24, 2022, in Beijing. Beijing is on high alert after 10 middle school students tested positive for COVID-19 in what city officials said was a first round of testing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The video covered WeChat timelines before being abruptly removed by censorship on Saturday.
Chinese authorities have also said that the “zero-COVID” strategy is the best way forward given low vaccination rates in people over 60 and that Omicron would result in many deaths and serious illnesses if the country abandoned its strict approach .