On Tuesday, Nov. 22, Beijing reported a record number of Covid-19 cases in nearly three years, prompting authorities to order the closure of schools and restaurants while many employees are being called to work from home.
The capital of 22 million people, which had recorded 621 new local cases on Sunday, recorded 1,438 on Tuesday, a record since the start of the epidemic. The national daily total of cases, including imported cases, has now exceeded 28,000, with the southern province of Guangdong and the southwestern city of Chongqing the hardest hit, according to health authorities.
New variants and first deaths since May
China is the latest major world economy to implement a strict health policy known as Zero Covid, which aims to do everything it can to prevent contamination and death. It consists of arrests as cases emerge, quarantines for people who test positive and near-daily PCR tests for the population. But this strategy, which was initially effective in preventing the spread of the virus, appears to be running out amid new variants and has hit the economy hard, isolating China from the rest of the world and causing severe fatigue. the chinese
Three elderly Beijing residents with pre-existing medical conditions died of Covid-19 over the weekend, the first reported deaths linked to the virus since May. Authorities in the capital appear keen to avoid strict lockdowns like those imposed in Shanghai this spring, but have stepped up health measures in recent days. About 600 areas of the capital, including residential buildings, are considered “high risk“, forcing their residents to confine themselves to their homes or move to quarantine centers.
Zero Covid policy
Schools have switched to online classes, restaurants, gyms, parks and tourist attractions have closed, and employees are being asked to work from home. Queues for Covid-19 testing booths on the streets are getting longer, with many public places now requiring a negative result within 24 hours to enter.
However, the Chinese government on November 11 unveiled several significant relaxations of its zero-Covid policy, including a reduction in quarantine times for travelers arriving from abroad. Several Chinese cities also suspended large-scale testing last week, but some have since resumed it, reflecting the difficulty of controlling the more infectious version of Omicron.
Source: Le Figaro
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.