For the first time in Beijing’s recent history, citizens must provide proof that they are Covid negative before entering public areas.
There’s no word on how long the new restrictions will be in effect, but they were announced as the city began a five-day public holiday.
On or after May 5, passengers will have to provide a negative Covid test result in order to board public transportation.
There has been a recurrence of Covid cases in China.
In contrast to many other nations, China is adopting a zero-Covid approach with the goal of totally eliminating the virus from the country.
Even if stringent lockdowns and other measures have led to unusual public outrage against the government.
The plight of Shanghai’s elderly in quarantine centers
Beijing’s latest anti-Covid effort comes only a few days after the city began mass testing for its millions of inhabitants after a rise in instances.
People will also be advised to cook at home from 1 to 4 May, when eateries will be closed for the duration of the protest.
Since April 22nd, 295 additional cases have been registered in the city.
Of these, 123 instances were detected in Chaoyang, Beijing’s most populated district, which is currently scheduled for three rounds of mass testing.
At the beginning of the five-day Labor Day holiday, the streets of Beijing were eerily empty. A female inhabitant, a finance professional, began to weep as she described how she was feeling to Reuters.
“There is nothing but silence in a city that used to be bustling. How do these folks manage to keep going in such a tough environment? “she said.
The government promised there would be enough food, but locals hurried to stock up on necessities earlier this month, and huge lines were visible outside of supermarkets and other outlets as a result.
City officials worry they may face a scenario similar to what happened in Shanghai, when 25 million people were forced to stay in their houses for weeks while others struggled to get food and other necessities.
Shanghai has seen an epidemic of the virus since early March, with more than 500,000 individuals showing signs of the illness.
There were no new instances of Covid outside of quarantine zones on Saturday, a significant milestone for the city.
