Millions tested as Beijing races to keep outbreak in check

BEIJING/SHANGHAI • Millions of people in Beijing took their second Covid-19 tests of the week yesterday as the Chinese capital tried to keep an outbreak numbering in the dozens from spiralling into a crisis like the one the locked-down city of Shanghai is enduring.

Evidence that Shanghai's month-long isolation has become almost unbearable for many of the city's more than 25 million people is emerging on an almost daily basis on the heavily censored Internet.

A widely circulated video - since taken down - showed a foreigner trying to break through metal barriers onto a Shanghai street, before being pulled back and dragged to the ground by four people in protective hazmat suits.

"I want to die," the man shouted repeatedly in Mandarin and English. One of the people holding him down responded: "You came to China, you need to respect the laws and regulations here." Another said: "Calm down, calm down."

Reuters was unable to immediately verify the video's authenticity.

Such distressing scenes are being watched with apprehension in Beijing, where officials hope early mass testing will spare them the anguish of the situation in Shanghai, where officials waited for about a month as cases surged before ordering city-wide screening.

In Beijing, supermarkets have kept supplies well stocked under orders from the authorities.

Mr Shi Wei, 53, a retiree, said he was encouraged by the capital's low caseload, but still nervous.

"These past two days, every time I go to the supermarket, there are lots of people, so I just turn around and leave as I feel slightly unsafe," he said. "I can understand the panic, given what happened in Shanghai."

Beijing was testing more than 3.5 million residents of its Chaoyang district yesterday, all of whom were screened on Monday. On Tuesday, 16 million from other districts were tested, and are due for another round today. In total, 20 million of Beijing's 22 million will be tested three times this week.

Results for almost all samples from the first round came through yesterday afternoon, with 12 tubes of mixed samples showing positive results, a Beijing health official said. Some 46 new cases have been identified since 4pm on Tuesday, a second Beijing official said.

In mass testing exercises in China, multiple samples are tested together in a single tube for speed and efficiency.

Meanwhile, China's Hangzhou city, home to e-commerce giant Alibaba, will conduct mass Covid-19 testing from today, state media reported. Around 12.2 million people live in the eastern city.

The coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan in late 2019, and the authorities managed to keep outbreaks under control with lockdowns and travel bans. But the fast-spreading Omicron variant has tested China's zero-Covid-19 policy.

In Shanghai, the city has been offered a glimmer of hope, with officials reiterating that they would soon begin easing restrictions in districts that have stamped out infections, without giving a time frame or other details.

Data showed that six of Shanghai's 16 districts had zero cases outside quarantined areas, with numbers in seven others in the single digits. In total, Shanghai detected 171 such cases on Tuesday, down from Monday's 217.

Research by Gavekal Dragonomics estimated that 57 of China's 100 biggest cities were under some form of Covid-19 curbs as of last week.

The measures have hurt consumption, disrupted industry and prompted official efforts to stimulate the world's second-largest economy, including stepping up infrastructure investment, state television reported, citing a meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping.

Hundreds of factories have been allowed to resume operations, with state media giving plenty of coverage to the reopening of Tesla's Shanghai plant last week.

But industry associations say most factories are struggling to get back to work, with staff stuck at home, trucks parked in carparks and orders of components from contractors in the same situation unfilled.

REUTERS