People line up at a makeshift nucleic acid testing station near a locked down residential complex following a local case of coronavirus disease in Chengdu, Sichuan province, November 3, 2021. cnsphoto via Reuters
BEIJING: China has extended a lockdown in a district of the western metropolis of Chengdu, ordering more tests there from Sunday as it tries to contain the Covid outbreak.
Chengdu’s central Jinjiang District will further tighten its lockdown, extending control measures for at least three days starting Sunday, authorities said in a statement. Other districts also announced their third Covid tests on Sunday. Officials say people should return home as soon as they are tested.
Chengdu’s lockdown, which began on Thursday, shows China’s commitment to a Covid-zero approach despite the enormous economic losses it has caused. It was the biggest city to shut down since Shanghai lifted a two-month travel ban on May 1, and the impact is still felt at businesses.
Chengdu fears Shanghai will be repeated in Xi’s pursuit of Covid-zero
Shanghai’s demand for everything from dining out to movies to tourism is still well below pre-lockdown levels, and some indicators suggest the city will take longer to recover than Hong Kong and Singapore, where restrictions have eased. It shows that it is hanging. The city’s retail sales fell 4.3% year-on-year in June and rose just 0.3% in July. This follows an average 35% drop over the past three months since his outbreak began in March.
Nationwide, China reported 1,673 local Covid cases on Saturday, including 1,359 asymptomatic. According to the National Health Commission, Tibet has found the most cases among all provinces, with 556 new infections detected. Sichuan province, home to Chengdu, reported 186 cases.
The southern tech hub Shenzhen reported 89 new cases. Local health officials said at a briefing on Saturday that daily new infections are expected to remain high over the next few days, with Beijing and Shanghai finding only one case each.
Tianjin, a northern port hub near Beijing, has closed eat-in services in one district after 22 new cases were found on Saturday. The city began mass testing of its 13.7 million residents on Sunday. did.
Aba province, home to about 815,000 people in Sichuan province, imposed a lockdown on 13 counties on Sunday. The restrictions will last for at least four days, local officials said in a statement.
The city of Daqing in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province has extended the lockdown of major urban areas for five days starting Sunday to contain the spread of Covid, according to a statement by the local government. These areas were early in his seven-day temporary lockdown from 28 August.
