All 3.5 million residents of Chaoyang District must be tested in three rounds every two days. The reason: a few dozen new corona virus infections.
After the discovery of a few dozen new corona virus infections in Beijing, all 3.5 million residents of the largest district of Chaoyang have had to be tested every other day in three rounds since Monday. The fear of the curfew in the Chinese capital has caused panic in shopping and empty shelves in supermarkets. Authorities warned that the virus was spreading undetected in the metropolis of 21 million for a week.
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.” Foreign embassies are located in Chaoyang District and most foreigners live in Beijing.
Shanghai residents will be tested again
The capital, which is already particularly protected, 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. There are also complaints of insufficient food supplies and poor medical care. Starting on Tuesday, all 26 million residents of Shanghai will also be retested.
China is pursuing a zero Covid strategy that will be put to the test with the arrival of the fast-spreading Omicron variant. Shanghai is at the center of the biggest wave of corona in China since the beginning of the pandemic, a good two years ago. The port metropolis recorded the highest number of outbreaks with 51 deaths on Sunday in connection with Covid-19. By then, 87 deaths had already been recorded. According to the Health Commission, most of the country’s 23,000 new infections on Sunday were detected in Shanghai – the majority asymptomatic.
(APA/dpa)