The Chinese megacity of Chengdu has extended a lockdown in most of its downtown areas while allowing restrictions to ease in some suburban regions as it seeks to eradicate Covid-19.
(Bloomberg) — The Chinese megacity of Chengdu has extended a lockdown in most of its downtown areas while allowing restrictions to ease in some suburban regions as it seeks to eradicate Covid-19.
The capital of Sichuan province, Chengdu is the biggest city to shut since Shanghai’s bruising two-month lockdown earlier this year. It reported 121 cases for Tuesday, up from 90 on Monday. A lockdown with mass testing and restrictions has already been in place for a week.
The decision to extend the restrictions in most parts of the city shows that even as the Covid Zero approach becomes more costly for China’s economy and beyond, the country remains committed to the policy espoused by President Xi Jinping.
Authorities in the city, with 21 million people, said that mass testing will continue, and pledged to eliminate Covid’s community spread within a week. Meanwhile, some suburban districts with no cases found in recent days will resume normal lives, though restrictions remain on gatherings.
Residents in locked-down areas will remain at home and get tested for Covid daily. Those living outside so-called high and medium risk regions are allowed to go out every other day for two hours for groceries and medical needs, according to the statement.
Schools will remain shut with online learning while businesses other than those related to essential services such as grocery stores and hospitals will also stay closed.
Chengdu locked down as the Communist Party prepares for the twice-a-decade leadership summit, slated to take place in October, when Xi is expected to break precedent by securing a third term in office. His opening address at the event will be scrutinized for signals on whether China will shift from trying to eliminate the virus to living with it like the rest of the world.
The world’s most-populous country reported 1,570 local Covid cases for Tuesday, marking nearly a month of more than 1,000 infections a day despite the zero-tolerance approach that continues to weigh on the economy.
Covid measures added to the hardships that residents in Chengdu and the wider Sichuan province experienced this summer.
The province saw record breaking heat waves that led to droughts and forest fires, with the government introducing rolling power cuts to conserve electricity. A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck western Sichuan on Monday, with tremors being felt in Chengdu. Some residents complained on social media that when they went to evacuate, the fire exits in their buildings had been sealed due to the lockdown.
(Updated with lockdown details from the fifth paragraph)
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