Beijing streets empty amid curbs
COVID: GOVT CALL FOR RETURN TO REMOTE WORK
Entire neighbourhoods sealed off in Beijing, while Shanghai is epicentre.
The streets of Beijing’s business district were deserted yesterday as the government called for people to return to work remotely, with scores of subway stations shut after a national holiday muted by virus curbs.
Chinese authorities have stuck to their zero-Covid policy of lockdowns and mass testing as they battle the biggest outbreak since the early days of the pandemic, with entire neighbourhoods in the capital sealed over handfuls of infections.
Beijing reported 50 local cases yesterday, a day after it said people in Chaoyang, its most populous district, should work from home. Those among the district’s 3.5 million residents who needed to visit their offices were encouraged to drive themselves and avoid gatherings.
At least one other Beijing district has also encouraged residents to work from home, while dozens of subway stations across the capital remained closed. Open restaurants offer only takeaway.
But Feng Yinhao, a massage parlour employee in Chaoyang district, said Beijing was “still normal” compared to the country’s largest city, Shanghai.
Authorities have been treading cautiously since an extended lockdown in the southern finance hub led to food shortages and public anger. “Residents can accept the situation now,” Zhan Jun, a man living in Chaoyang, said. But “if things are like in Shanghai... if it’s too severe, things will sound different”.
Shanghai – epicentre of the latest outbreak – reported more than 4 600 mostly asymptomatic infections yesterday and 13 more deaths.
The call to work from home followed a quiet Labour Day holiday, with the capital stepping up Covid testing requirements for entering public spaces, discouraging travel and shutting gyms.
Domestic tourism revenue from the five-day break was down by more than 40% from a year ago, according to official data. Dozens of Chinese cities were implementing full or partial lockdowns, or measures restricting mobility as of 3 May, analysts from Nomura said.
Independent data yesterday showed that activity in China’s services sector slumped in April to its second-lowest level on record.
Some curbs were being loosened, however, with Beijing announcing international travellers can be released from quarantine after 10 days in a centralised facility and a week of home isolation, down from 21 days.