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Deaths, Covid caseloads go up in China; Beijing looking at days of restrictions ahead
China logged 27,095 cases nationwide, inching closer to the daily highest number of infections reported during the Shanghai outbreak earlier this year
Beijing: Beijing reported two new deaths and a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases and local authorities in the southern city of Guangzhou locked down its largest district on Monday as China grapples to control a country-wide outbreak that’s logging record numbers.
China logged 27,095 cases nationwide, inching closer to the daily highest number of infections reported during the Shanghai outbreak earlier this year, with Guangzhou, capital of the economic powerhouse, Guangdong, reporting the largest number of new cases on Monday at 9,085.
The caseload in Beijing rose sharply to 962, its highest since the beginning of the pandemic, with two more deaths reported for Sunday.
Of the 962 new cases in Beijing on Sunday, 266 cases were identified outside quarantine zones during community tests, indicating that the virus - primarily, the Omicron BF.7 variant - is circulating within the community.
A 91-year-old woman and 88-year-old man died on Sunday, the national health commission announced on Monday, following the death of an 87-year-old man on Saturday, China’s first documented virus-related death since May 26 in Shanghai.
“The city is facing the most complex and severe prevention and control situation since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, and is in the most critical and tight moment,” Liu Xiaofeng, deputy director of the Municipal Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday.
Schools across Beijing’s 16 districts moved online from Monday as city officials again called on residents to stay home without declaring a lockdown.
Thousands of restaurants including eateries in Beijing’s most populous Chaoyang district have indefinitely suspended in-person dining.
Restaurants remained open with staff waiting at barricaded doors, catering to takeaway or home-delivery orders.
Daily testing for Covid-19 has become the norm in many areas in Beijing without the government making any official announcement.
A Beijing government statement said on Monday that people arriving in the capital from elsewhere in China would need to undergo three consecutive days of Covid-19 testing before being permitted to leave their homes or accommodation.
In southern Guangzhou, authorities imposed a five-day lockdown in Baiyun district, home to one of the country’s busiest airports, which is also the most populous district with over 3.7 million people.
Another sprawling Chinese city, Chongqing in southwest China recorded over 6,000 new infections among its 30 million-strong population on Sunday. So far, authorities have implemented targeted lockdowns in the city without calling for a complete shutdown.
