Millions of residents in Beijing, China, gathered Tuesday for COVID-19 testing as the city attempts to avoid a lockdown similar to Shanghai’s in early April.
Beijing’s testing comes after dozens of cases emerged in the city over the past week, including 33 cases on Monday and 19 on Sunday. At least 80 cases have occurred since Friday, with no deaths recorded so far. The number in Beijing is only a fraction of the hundreds of thousands recorded in Shanghai, which waited until after it had received 1,000 new cases to implement restrictions.
“The outbreak in Beijing is coming fast and furious,” Xu Hejian, a city health official, said at a news conference on Tuesday, adding that control efforts have “reached a critical moment,” according to CNN.
The city has urged residents not to travel during the next week, which is typically a peak travel week in China due to the country’s labor day weekend beginning Saturday. It has also suspended cultural performances, sports events, exhibitions, and other activities that could draw large crowds. Dozens of residential compounds across eight districts are already under strict lockdown and will not allow residents to leave.
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The increase in cases and testing have led Beijing residents to flock to markets and grocery stores to stock up on food and supplies in anticipation of a citywide lockdown. However, city officials have attempted to reassure residents that there was plenty of food and items left on shelves.
China sent more than 20,000 healthcare employees to Shanghai earlier this month, bringing the total number of healthcare workers in the city to 38,000. The lockdown was the country’s largest since the start of the pandemic in 2019 and has stretched into four weeks.
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Shanghai recorded 16,980 infections and 52 deaths on Tuesday, according to China’s National Health Commission.
