Chinese city of 16 million to shut down over new Covid outbreak

Around 16 million people in the Chinese
city of Chengdu will be effectively under lockdown from Thursday as
authorities race to snuff out a new Covid-19 outbreak.

China is the last major economy wedded to a zero-Covid policy, stamping out
virus flare-ups with snap shutdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines.

Chengdu, in the southwest, has become the latest to announce a shutdown,
saying in an official notice that residents must “stay home in principle”
from 6 pm on Thursday to combat a new wave of infections.

Each household will be allowed to send one person out to buy groceries and
essential goods per day, provided they have tested negative in the previous
24 hours, the notice said.

It said that all residents would be tested for the virus between Thursday and
Sunday, and urged them not to leave the city unless “absolutely necessary”.

“The current state of epidemic control is abnormal, complex and grim,” the
announcement said, adding that the measures aimed to “decisively arrest the
spread of the outbreak and guarantee the health of all citizens”.

Chengdu recorded 157 new local infections on Thursday, of which 51 displayed
no symptoms, the city government said in a separate notice.

Children in at least 10 cities and provinces are facing disruption to the new
academic year as pandemic controls force schools to switch to measures like
online learning, according to a report on Thursday by a media outlet
affiliated with the state-run People’s Daily.

Xining, the capital of western Qinghai province and home to 2.5 million
people, has ordered schools to conduct lessons online, rolled out a mass
testing drive and told residents in its main urban area to work from home for
three days.

China has stuck fast to its zero-tolerance virus strategy despite disruptions
from the fast-spreading Omicron strain and concern that the approach is
stifling its post-pandemic economic recovery.

Last month, travellers in the southern island province of Hainan protested
after more than 80,000 tourists were stranded in a resort city because of a
Covid-19 flare-up.

Social media videos from the eastern megacity of Shanghai showed panicked
crowds fleeing an Ikea store and another building as officials tried to
impose local lockdowns in response to two suspected cases.

AFP