Thousands sent into quarantine in China’s capital

ZERO COVID STRATEGY

Agencies

BEIJING: Authorities in Beijing sent all residents of a large housing complex into quarantine after 26 cases of Covid were discovered in the compound, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Residents of the compound in Chaoyang district were moved to a quarantine centre for seven days from Saturday, according to the report, which cited a notice issued Friday by the virus control and prevention command of Nanmofangxiang. The first infections at the complex were found on May 12, it said.

Beijing found 70 new infections on May 20, an increase from 62 a day earlier, and another 33 infections on Saturday as of 3pm local time. Some areas of Fengtai district in the capital remain n lockdown, and dine-in services and in-person classes in schools are still suspended.

The Haidian district in Beijing raised virus restriction levels, requiring residents to work from home starting Monday through May 28, with businesses at gyms, entertainment and training centres suspended. The neighbouring port city Tianjin will conduct a round of citywide mass testing on Sunday, state media reported.

“The Covid situation is still severe and complicated,” the

Beijing government said in a statement late on Saturday. “We’re in a critical time.”

The case count in Shanghai, which remains the epicentre of the outbreak in China, remained stable at 868 on Saturday, compared with 858 reported on Friday. None of the new infections were discovered outside of government quarantine, after three were found in the community on Friday, breaking a six-day streak.

Shanghai will resume operations on four subway lines starting Sunday, and passengers taking public transportation will be required to carry a negative Covid test taken within the past 48 hours, officials said at a daily press conference.

Judge blocks US plan to lift border asylum policy A health rule imposed at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic that has blocked immigration at the US border with Mexico must stay in place, a judge ruled Friday.

Title 42, the colloquial name for an order that can effectively prevent anyone without a visa from entering the United States, even to claim asylum, was due to expire on Monday.

President Joe Biden’s administration said the order was no longer needed, more than two years after it was imposed by then-president Donald Trump.