Beijing kicks off fresh round of Covid-19 tests
SHANGHAI, May 7, (Reuters) - China's capital Beijing kicked off a fresh round of mass testing for Covid-19 on Saturday and shut more bus routes and metro stations, as it seeks to avert the fate of Shanghai, where millions of residents have been locked down for over a month.
The draconian movement curbs on Shanghai, an economic and financial hub, have caused frustration among its 25 million residents and triggered rare protests over issues such as access to food and medical care as well as loss of income.
While some people have been let out for light and air in recent weeks, residents for the most part say they still cannot leave their housing compounds.
Shanghai cases have fallen for eight straight days and the city says its outbreak is under effective control, allowing it to shut some of the makeshift hospitals it raced to build as case numbers ballooned.
But authorities have also indicated that a full easing is still far off and warn against complacency to stick to China's zero-Covid goal.
The city's top Communist Party official, Li Qiang, a close ally of President Xi Jinping, told a government meeting that it was “necessary to issue military orders at all levels, and take more resolute and powerful actions to overcome the great war and great tests.”