- Beijing is shutting more gyms, malls and movie theaters in a bid to contain the outbreak
- Delivery companies are working overtime to supply residents
- “The virus is hurting the economy” – health official
BEIJING/SHANGHAI, April 29 – China’s capital Beijing closed more shops and apartment complexes on Friday, with authorities stepping up contact tracing to contain a COVID-19 outbreak amid uneasiness at Shanghai’s month-long lockdown.
In the financial hub, people fenced off have been protesting the lockdown and difficulties sourcing groceries by banging on pots and pans in the evening, according to a Reuters witness and local residents.
A video shared on social media, the authenticity of which could not be immediately verified, showed a woman using a bullhorn to warn people not to do so, saying such gestures are encouraged by “outsiders”.
The Shanghai government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In Beijing, authorities were in a race against time to uncover COVID cases and isolate those who were around them.
In front of a residential complex there was a sign saying “Entrance only. No exit”.
Polish resident Joanna Szklarska, 51, was sent to a quarantine hotel as a close contact but refused to share the single-bed room with her neighbor.
She was sent home, where authorities installed a front door alarm. Then she was called back to the hotel where she now has her own room.
“Nothing makes sense here,” the English-speaking consultant said on the phone.
At a regular news conference on Friday, Chinese health officials did not respond to questions about whether Beijing will go into lockdown or what circumstances might prompt such measures.
Chaoyang District, which became the first to undergo mass testing this week, launched the latest of three rounds of screening among its 3.5 million residents on Friday. Most of the other counties line up for their third round of testing on Saturday.
More apartment blocks were sealed, preventing residents from leaving, and certain spas, KTV lounges, gyms, movie theaters and libraries and at least two shopping malls were closed on Friday.
Chaoyang, which has the largest proportion of cases in Beijing, said more neighborhoods are at risk.
People who had recently visited venues in such areas received text messages urging them to remain in place until they received their test results.
“Hello citizens! They recently visited the Guanghui Li Township Beef Noodle and Braised Chicken Shop,” read one such text. “Please report to your premises or hotel immediately, stay there and wait for the nucleic acid test notification.”
“If you violate the above requirements and cause the spread of the epidemic, bear legal responsibility.”
Companies like JD.com, an e-commerce platform, have struggled to serve residents well.
The head of one of its logistics centers on the outskirts of Beijing, 32-year-old Ming Tang, said delivery volumes have increased by 65% since the first cases appeared on April 22, and 80% of packages are food-related.
“The hassle of getting packages delivered on time and the long working hours put a lot of pressure on our couriers,” he said.
Beijing reported 49 cases on April 28, down from 50 the day before, a far cry from Shanghai’s numbers.
The work break from April 30 to May 4 is one of the busiest travel seasons in China, and the travel industry suffers losses. Continue reading
Companies reopening factories in Shanghai are booking hotel rooms to house workers and turning vacant workshops into on-site isolation facilities as authorities urge them to resume work under COVID curbs.
Once workers are in a factory’s “closed loop” system, it’s unclear when they can come out again. Continue reading
Many foreigners want to flee the most cosmopolitan city in mainland China. Continue reading
China will ramp up policy support for the economy in response to COVID and other headwinds, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party said on Friday, lifting stocks (.CSI300), (.SSEC) from recent two-year lows. Continue reading
Chinese authorities say being COVID-free is important to save as many lives as possible.
“We must recognize that the virus is hurting the economy,” said Liang Wannian, head of the National Health Commission’s COVID response panel.
“Fighting the COVID epidemic is a war, a war of resistance, a people’s war,” Liang said.
In Shanghai, authorities said recently more people have been gradually allowed to leave their homes in principle. More than 12 million, almost half the population, now belong to this category. Continue reading
Still, many are unable to leave their connections, while those who are may have few places to go as shops and other venues are closed. Often one of the 52,000 police officers mobilized for the lockdown tells them to return home.
Many residents complain that policing is inflexible, sometimes failing to take into account health emergencies or other individual circumstances.
“There are still many shortcomings in our work,” Shu Qing, head of the city’s public security bureau, told reporters.
“Some individual police officers don’t pay attention to styles or methods of enforcing the law, or they are emotional or mechanical.”
Reporting by Martin Quin Pollard, Eduardo Baptista, David Stanway, Brenda Goh, Tony Munroe, Roxanne Liu, Albee Zhang, Wang Yifan and the Beijing and Shanghai offices; Letter from Marius Zaharia; Adaptation of Lincoln Feast.