Beijing scrambles to check spread, closes subway stations, bus routes
BEIJING: Residents in Beijing woke up on Wednesday to an early morning announcement that dozens of subway stations and bus routes were shut as city authorities scrambled to restrict people’s movements as part of efforts to stamp out an ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.
At least 60 subway stations, impacting 13 lines and around 15 % of Beijing’s vast network, and 158 bus routes, mostly in the most populous Chaoyang district, were suspended indefinitely, the city government said.
By Wednesday evening, the city authorities further said Chaoyang’s residents will have to work from home until further notice.
“The Beijing government has asked employees in Chaoyang, the capital’s most
populous district, to work from home from Thursday, as the Labour Day holiday ends, and cases continue to climb.
“Those unable to work from home are advised to drive to work,” the government said in a statement, quoted by government-run media.
The city has recorded a few over 500 Covid-19 infections out of a population of around 22 million, including 51 for May 3 - since the outbreak began on April 22.
Meanwhile, China’s financial hub Shanghai reported 260 confirmed locally transmitted Covid-19 cases and 4,722 local asymptomatic cases on Tuesday, the municipal health commission said on Wednesday.
The city also reported 16 deaths from Covid-19, down from 20 on Monday.
The overall death toll in Shanghai stood at 490 as of Tuesday.