On the eve of the start of the long Labor Day holiday, which is usually the busiest in the country, Chinese authorities announced that measures to control Covid-19 in Beijing will be reinforced. Among these measures are the requirement of negative tests so that the Chinese can have access to various public places.
With the decision, the volume of Chinese displacements within their own country should be drastically reduced. Many people must remain at home during the latest outbreak of the disease in the country, the most serious since the coronavirus was identified in 2019. Despite avoiding talk of quarantine and lockdowns, Beijing’s central government will restrict access to schools. , government buildings and sports venues after the end of the holiday, next Thursday (5).
To gain access to these locations, the Chinese will need to present negative tests taken up to seven days before. If the intention was to enter hospitals or places where there can be large agglomerations, the deadline for carrying out negative tests drops to 48 hours. The restrictions also apply to public transport and to the most visited tourist spots by Chinese during the holiday.
Several districts of Beijing have been targeted by the “Covid Zero” policy by government health officials. Shopping malls and beauty salons were even closed because they were considered “risk areas” – these are places where people who later tested positive for the disease passed through. One such district is Chaoyang, where 123 new cases of the disease have been reported since last weekend.
The actions are also being reinforced in other cities in the country. Large-scale testing and lockdowns are being carried out in just over 45 cities – the financial hub of Shanghai is one of them. These places are undergoing total or partial quarantines, which have already affected the lives of more than 340 million Chinese.
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