China: Beijing imposes closure of schools and restaurants due to outbreak of coronavirus infection in the country

Beijing suspended face-to-face classes in schools and kindergartens after registering two deaths and nearly a thousand new infections yesterday, Sunday, while outbreaks are being recorded in various Chinese cities, and some such as Shijiazhuang (north), cancel recent policy adjustments zero COVID.

Numerous restaurants in the Chinese capital, especially in the business district of chaoyang, they closed today on Monday or only served takeaway orders. In addition, the authorities have asked residents to work from home if possible.

Similarly, display requirements in the mobile phone application negative PCR test committed in the previous 24 hours to access public places such as supermarkets, museums, parks or shopping malls.

Although an unknown number of buildings in Beijing remain in lockdown due to a COVID case being found inside, the Chinese capital has so far avoided imposing a large-scale lockdown despite its daily infection rates being similar to those of cities that have been imposing large-scale lockdowns over the past two years. .

Shijiazhuang case

Approximately 280 km from Beijingcity Shijiazhuang today, 641 new infections were reported the day before among more than 10 million inhabitants.

A week ago, the city made headlines when it announced it was canceling current coronavirus tests. PCR to the public and requiring negative tests for access to public places, a widespread practice among Chinese cities since last spring, when a peak similar to the current one was reached.

The news was seen by some analysts as the first step towards a possible relaxation of China’s “zero COVID” policy in place since early 2020, although symptoms of fear were also seen in the city’s population, where the Chinese drug believed to be effective against COVID-19 soon ended. .

Soon after, other cities such as Guiyang (center) or Luoyang (center) also adjusted their requirements for PCR and even your Beijing closed numerous sample collection sites last Monday, only to reopen hours later due to complaints and confusion from residents whose offices still required negative tests to come to work.

Thousands infected in Canton and Chongqing

For its part, the southern city Cantonwith more than 15 million inhabitants, continues to struggle with a rebound that saw nearly 10,000 new infections this Sunday.

A Chinese city rarely reports thousands of new cases a day, and when it does, the situation usually results in a full lockdown, a measure not yet put in place by Chinese authorities. Cantonwho decided to close the most affected areas.

Central metropolis. chongqingwhich yesterday registered more than 6,000 new infections among its population of about 30 million, also did not apply full city lockdowns like those applied in the past in cities such as Shanghai (east), Xi’an (center) or Wuhan (center).

The zero COVID policy of isolating all infected people, strict border controls, continuous PCR testing of the urban population, and isolation at the sites of case detection has remained in place since early 2020 in the Asian country, despite symptoms of population depletion in recent months, which has led to recent unrest in cities such as the aforementioned Canton.

Recently, China made adjustments to its protocols to deal with the pandemic, and the executive branch advised against performing routine PCR tests on the entire population of the city or district.

He also criticized practices such as collecting samples from residents twice a day, which have recently taken place in some cities, as “unscientific”.

The Asian country today reported more than 25,000 new infections a day earlier. According to official figures, 5,229 people have died in Russia since the start of the pandemic. Chinawhose authorities claim that “zero covid” has saved millions of lives.

(As reported by EFE)