The nearly 4 million residents of Chendge and Xinle are affected. In addition, the large city of Tianjin in the north of the country, also close to Beijing, is preparing to test its 13 million inhabitants after the appearance of 80 positive cases in two days.
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China continues to apply a strict health policy in the face of Covid-19. Nearly four million inhabitants of the province located around Beijing, in the north of the country, are confined on Tuesday August 30. Residents of Chengde and Xinle cities must stay in their homes until the end of the week to deal with an epidemic outbreak. Otherwise, Ihe large city of Tianjin, in the north of the country, also close to Beijing, is preparing to test its 13 million inhabitants after the appearance of 80 positive cases in two days.
The Chinese authorities want to avoid any runaway epidemic before the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CCP) to be held in the coming months. They decree localized confinements, impose in certain places PCR tests every 72, even 48 hours, and pose the risk of quarantine on any traveler going to another province. This national health policy, very strict and firmly defended by President Xi Jinping, has become very political and any frontal opposition to anti-Covid measures can be considered as a questioning of the regime.
Moreover, the Omicron variant seems to be spreading in large cities, such as Chengdu, located in the southwest, or even Shenzen (18 million inhabitants), where two are partially confined and the world’s largest electronics market, Huaqiangbei, is closed. Thirty-five positive cases were reported there on Tuesday.