BEIJING (AP)-Thousands of test sites for corovirus have appeared on the sidewalks of Beijing and other Chinese cities in the latest development of the country’s “zero-COVID” strategy.
Lines are formed every day, whether it rains or shines, even when the spread of the virus is further blocked. Some have to go to work. The others want to go shopping. Almost everyone is forced to take a test to enter offices, shopping malls and other public places that require a negative test result.
Liu Lele, who works at a live broadcasting company, had no problem with regular checkups, but said the work hours that day didn’t always match his schedule.
“Sometimes I get stopped at work,” he said after an exam Thursday at Beijing’s historic Bell and Drama Towers. “I want the sites to be open 24 hours a day or not closed until 7pm or 8pm”
Regular screening of residents is becoming the new standard in many parts of China as the ruling Communist Party strictly adheres to the “zero-COVID” approach, which is increasingly opposed by the rest of the world.
Large cities were told to set up test stations within a 15-minute drive for all residents. Beijing and Shanghai alone have raised 10,000 or more. Some consist of folding tables and chairs under temporary canvases. Others contained square booths where gloved workers drilled to take a quick throat swab from the next person in line.
Many cities, including Beijing, require a negative test result in the past three days to enter a public place or take a bus or subway. Some take a week or 10 days. The trials are free, the result will be visible in the human smartphone app after approximately 12 hours.
“This is what we need to do,” said Wang Xiuan, a retiree from Beijing who is checked every three days to see if he needs to go to the supermarket or take a bus. “When everyone just complies with the requirements, we can reduce the risk of delivery.”
The move was followed by a recent explosion in Shanghai that spread so widely that authorities blocked the entire city for two months to complete, trapping millions of people and damaging the national economy.
Most of China has been defending the virus for a year and a half by closing buildings and neighborhoods and quarantining infected people, but it has become more difficult to prevent the rapidly spreading Omicron variant. More than 580 people were killed in Shanghai, a large number of countries, with only a few dying from the initial deadly explosion in Wuhan in early 2020.
Guo Yanhong, a spokesman for the National Health Commission, said the diagnosis has become more important because omcron is more contagious and spreads to people without symptoms.
“We must pursue an expansionary prevention strategy focused on nucleic acid testing to control the outbreak as soon as possible,” he said at a news conference Thursday.
Several new cases, some related to the nightlife district in Beijing and a hairdresser in Shanghai, prompted authorities to close places in both cities on Thursday. The lawsuits were followed by the easing of traffic restrictions and the reopening of several retail businesses last week.
Andy Chen, senior analyst at consulting firm Trivium China, said the proliferation of test sites was a reaction to the failure of existing Omicron control measures in Shanghai, although officials did not say it directly.
Authorities have decided that early testing is needed to control the spread of omicron without drastic measures, leading to severe economic delays.
“The regular testing requirements are designed to enhance the zero-COVID approach,” Chen said in an email. “The ultimate goal is to prevent a virus-like blockade in Shanghai.”
Many other countries, whose populations are tired of pandemic restrictions and want to move, are betting on growth rates and vaccine development. .
Chinese leaders have repeatedly said they believe the “zero-COVID” approach is right for China, even as they try to revive the flag economy by paying taxes on businesses, simplifying credit and spending. in infrastructure projects.
Entry into the country is limited, visas are difficult to obtain and international flights are scarce, making the area expensive and difficult. Entrants must be quarantined at the hotel, usually for two weeks. The Chinese usually cannot leave the country unless it is for work or study.
Most analysts expect the zero COVID policy to remain in effect for at least the main Communist Party congress this fall, when leader Xi Jinping is expected to sit for a third five -year term. The party declared its winning strategy when COVID-19 was destroying other countries and did not want a big bang before its meeting.
Associated Press researcher Yu Bing and video producer Olivia Zhang in Beijing and researcher Xi Chen in Shanghai contributed to this report.
Source: Huffpost
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.