Status: 04/25/2022 09:27 am
After a major corona outbreak in the Chinese capital Beijing, the government launched large-scale mass testing. Panic buying by residents for fear of a lockdown has left supermarket shelves empty.
After the discovery of numerous corona infections in Beijing, all 3.5 million residents of the largest district, Chaoyang, must be tested in three rounds every two days. Previously, 22 new infections were reported in China’s capital on Sunday.
Initial observations indicated that the virus had been spreading “invisibly” in Beijing for a week, affecting “schools, tour groups and many families”, a government official said. Everything indicates that many more cases are likely to be discovered.
Hamster buys for fear of blocking
Whether a lockdown will be imposed on all or part of Beijing depends on the spread of the virus, a national health department expert told the party-affiliated Global Times newspaper. “When the results of tests in Chaoyang and elsewhere are released, it will give us a better picture of the general epidemic situation in Beijing,” the senior official said. “More measures will follow accordingly.” Fear of strict curfews in the metropolis of 21 million people has caused panic shopping and empty supermarket shelves.
Foreign embassies are located in Chaoyang District and most foreigners live in Beijing. After individual apartment blocks with infections were already closed over the weekend, authorities also today imposed a lockdown on several neighborhoods in the eastern Chaoyang district. Residents are not allowed to leave the area for the time being. Restaurants and entertainment venues were also closed there.
Worst corona wave so far
With swift action, the already particularly well-protected capital also wants to learn lessons from the corona outbreak in Shanghai and other provinces, he said. There has been criticism of the initially slow approach in the eastern Chinese port city, where the situation has not been under control for nearly a month despite extensive curfews.
China is currently facing the worst corona wave since the beginning of the pandemic. The country follows a zero Covid strategy, which will be put to the test with the arrival of the fast-spreading omicron variant.