Chinese city shuts transport over Covid case

A CITY in northern China has shut down the public transport network for 24million people after one positive Covid case was detected, adding to residents’ fears that another full lockdown may be looming.

Authorities in Jilin City, in the Jilin province bordering Russia and North Korea, announced there would be three days of mass testing, from yesterday until tomorrow, after one positive case was found at a food factory on Sunday.

All public transport and couriers would be suspended, and primary schools would be closed in that period, local authorities said on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.

Residents were advised against leaving home except for “essential reasons” and travel outside the city would be allowed only with a negative PCR test carried out in the previous 24 hours.

It prompted fears that another lockdown was imminent. The city spent March and April this year in lockdown, as officials tried to fight omicron in line with China’s zero-covid policy.

Residents began to stockpile essential goods, and wrote on social media about their distrust in the authorities’ intentions. On Weibo, one person said authorities impose lockdown “as casually as children play make-believe”.