Corona in China
Shortly before the Olympics: a city of millions south of Beijing has to go into lockdown, which must not be called that
Corona test in the Chinese city of Hangzhou
© AFP
Shortly before the Olympics, the image of China’s perfect corona management is crumbling. A city of millions south of Beijing has to go into lockdown. But it shouldn’t be called that.
There are only a few days left until the Beijing Winter Olympics. What was supposed to be a PR event for the Middle Kingdom and the regime of President Xi Jinping is in danger of being lost in the corona pandemic. The omicron wave is massively scratching the painstakingly constructed image of a country that has the virus completely under control. The residents of the city of Xiong’an, south of Beijing, have now been surprised by a lockdown. With a view to the Olympics, however, it obviously cannot be called that.
As reported by “Zeit online”, citing sources in the city, uniformed officers already implemented restaurant closures at short notice last Monday. The 1.2 million residents have not been allowed to leave their residential areas for the time being, as an employee of the local health authorities told the AFP news agency on Friday. The lockdown was then officially imposed on Tuesday. The reason: Five new positive cases had been reported. The measure should apply for about a week. Corona restrictions are usually publicly announced in China. In this case, however, the lockdown was apparently imposed without notice.
China: Zero Covid strategy put to the test
The government in Beijing is pursuing a strict zero-Covid strategy: the slightest hint of the virus leads to targeted lockdowns, contact tracing and long quarantines. However, the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus and the Winter Olympics in Beijing starting next Friday are putting this strategy to the test.
The Chinese Ministry of Health announced on Friday that 39 new domestic corona cases had been recorded, including 22 omicron infections in the provincial capital of Hangzhou, near Shanghai. In addition, two Olympic athletes and eight officials tested positive upon arrival in China on Thursday. This increased the number of corona cases in connection with the Winter Games to 89.
Longest lockdown so far only recently ended
One of the longest corona lockdowns in China was only ended on Monday. In the city of Xi’an in the north of the country, which has been under a complete curfew since December 22, the authorities lifted most of the restrictions.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Health on Friday, 39 new corona cases were recorded nationwide.