Beijing Covid spike prompts mass testing, panic buying

Fears of a difficult Covid lockdown sparked panic shopping in Beijing on Monday, as long queues for obligatory mass testing shaped in a huge central district of the Chinese capital.

China is already seeking to include a wave of infections in its biggest city Shanghai, which has been almost entirely locked down for weeks and pronounced 51 new Covid deaths on Monday.

Shanghai has struggled to provide sparkling food to the ones confined at domestic, whilst patients have said hassle gaining access to non-Covid hospital therapy — and the growing instances within the capital prompted fears of a similar lockdown.

Downtown Beijing’s most populous district Chaoyang, home to around 3.5 million people, ordered mass testing from Monday for residents and those coming to work there. The area hosts embassies and the headquarters of many multinational firms.

Queues snaked around malls and outside office complexes as people waited to be swabbed by health workers in protective gear.

“If a single case is found, this area could be affected,” said office worker Yao Leiming, 25, as he headed for a testing site in Chaoyang with a group of colleagues.

The mass testing order, and warnings of a “grim” Covid situation in the city, sparked a run on Beijing’s supermarkets overnight as residents rushed to stockpile essentials.

Many items on grocery delivery apps sold out on Sunday night after the testing order was announced, but stocks were replenished Monday.

Beijing health official Pang Xinghuo said at a press conference Monday there had been 70 infections across half the city’s districts since Friday, saying the “distribution area of infected people… has expanded”.

Officials told residents not to leave the city for the upcoming five-day May public holiday or join group gatherings.

Around 40 percent of Monday’s scheduled flights from the capital’s airports were canceled, according to flight-tracking data.

With fears that harsher measures were looming, Beijing resident Zhao picked up several bags of groceries including eggs and fresh vegetables from a store on Monday.

The 31-year-old said he wanted to make sure his toddler would have enough to eat if the family was ordered to stay home.

“Adults can survive for a few days, but it’s not the same for children,” Zhao, who only wanted to be known by his surname, said.

Wang, another supermarket customer, said she was concerned that “things will become like in Shanghai”.

“People are anxious… everyone is snapping up goods and we’re worried that items might run out,” the 48-year-old Chaoyang resident said.

Her family had secured enough food to last a week, she added.

Local media also reported soaring sales of storage appliances in Beijing. One online retailer told state-owned Beijing Evening News that it sold 300 freezers on Sunday — what is normally sold in a month.

The city government on Sunday tried to ease fears, with an official saying supply and distribution were “stable”.

The capital has reported 19 new infections on Monday — including asymptomatic ones — after a warning from authorities that the virus has been circulating undetected.

A Tencent Maps compilation of restricted zones indicated multiple buildings were sealed off, while several fitness studios in the capital have also temporarily closed.

Travelers into the city are required to have a negative Covid test within 48 hours. On Monday, state media said authorities suspended local group tours in Beijing.

Beijing’s numbers pale in comparison with Shanghai, which has recorded over half a million cases since March 1.

The monetary hub of 25 million human beings is suffering to defeat China’s worst outbreak in two years, notwithstanding weeks of strict measures.

Under its 0-Covid method, China has imposed lockdowns, mass checking out, and journey regulations to stamp out infections.

Nomura analyst estimates say some 340 million humans are currently suffering from full or partial lockdowns.

Officials say this coverage has helped keep away from the general public health crises visible in some other places in the global all through the pandemic, but the technique has taken a heavy toll on agencies and public morale.

Shares in Hong Kong and mainland China plunged Monday on developing fears about the domestic effect of the outbreak, whilst international oil expenses sank by over 5%.