No exit unless there is an imperative reason: China imposed confinement on a city of 13 million inhabitants on Wednesday, due to an epidemic rebound of COVID-19 44 days before the Beijing Winter Olympics.
China has been pursuing a “zero Covid” strategy since last year, which consists of doing everything to limit the occurrence of new cases as much as possible, generally limited to only a few dozen per day.
If these figures may seem derisory compared to those recorded daily in other parts of the world, they are pushing the authorities to redouble their vigilance in the run-up to the Winter Olympics, which will begin on February 4.
Beijing, which hosted the Summer Games in 2008, will become the first city in the world to also host Olympic events in winter.
900 km from the sites, an epidemic rebound has been affecting the city of Xi’an (north) for two weeks, where 52 additional patients were identified on Wednesday.
To prevent any spread of the virus, residents will have to “stay at home unless there is a compelling reason” from midnight Thursday (11 a.m. Wednesday in Quebec), local authorities said.
One person per household is, however, authorized to shop “every two days”, they said in a statement.
All “non-essential” businesses except supermarkets, convenience stores and medical facilities have been ordered to close.
Watch video