Beijing presses on with mass COVID testing as locked-down Shanghai seethes
Date
4/27/2022 1:09:09 AM
(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
The second round of COVID-19 testing in Beijing's largest
district began on Wednesday, with this week's campaign to screen
most of the Chinese capital's 22 million residents so far detecting
less than three dozen new infections a day, Trend reports citing Reuters .
Beijing residents have rushed to stock up on food and other
supplies as the city races to stop a nascent outbreak and avert a
city-wide lockdown like that which has paralysed Shanghai for the
past month, leaving some in the Chinese commercial hub of 25
million venting extreme frustration.
Authorities in the capital have so far focused on early mass
testing, whereas Shanghai waited for a about a month before
launching a city-wide screening campaign.
In Beijing, Shi Wei, 53, a retiree, said he was encouraged by
the city's low caseload so far, but nervous.
'These past two days every time I go to the supermarket there
are lots of people, so I just turn around and leave, as I feel
slightly unsafe,' he said. 'I can understand the panic, given what
happened in Shanghai.'
Beijing screened the more than 3.5 million residents of its
Chaoyang district on Monday, all of whom are due for new tests on
Wednesday. On Tuesday, 16 million from other districts were also
screened and will be re-tested on Thursday.
It was unclear what percentage of those tests led to the
detection Beijing's 31 new COVID cases on Tuesday, compared with
the previous day's 33. No deaths have been recorded so far.
Tags:
- Beijing
- China
- coronavirus COVID-19
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