Recently, there have been increasing indications that China is considering some easing – but only after the Olympic Games.
(Photo: dpa)
Beijing Just three months before the start of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese capital is tightening the already strict corona rules. Almost 50 new infections have occurred in the city since October. Reason enough for the Chinese authorities to increase the protective measures.
Visitors from other parts of the country have had to present a negative PCR test no older than 48 hours since Wednesday. They also need a green health code on their Corona app. Anyone who has previously been to a region where a corona case has occurred is asked to wait two weeks before traveling to the capital again. Internal China flights from risk regions to Beijing have been reduced.
China has a strict zero-covid strategy. The People’s Republic has largely isolated itself from the outside world. Entry is only allowed to those who have a special permit and then endure two to three weeks of quarantine in a hotel room with no exit. Still, the country is currently battling the largest outbreak since the pandemic began two years ago.
Since October, the authorities have counted more than a thousand new infections in 31 provinces. In total, there have been 98,368 confirmed cases and 4,636 deaths in China since the pandemic began, according to official figures. On Monday, the number of new infections was 31, according to the National Health Authority, including one in Beijing.
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The most recent outbreak, which has persisted since October, is attributed to a couple from Shanghai. According to media reports, they traveled to the north of the country on the holidays around the Chinese national day, where they contracted the virus.
Entire shopping centers are cordoned off
Reports of draconian pandemic control measures show how great the fear of loss of control is: Last Wednesday, the Beijing health authority cordoned off a large shopping center in a popular district.
The reason: A person who was in close contact with someone infected with corona is said to have visited the mall. Videos shared on the Weibo social media platform showed crowds of masked customers and employees queuing at the mall to be tested before leaving the mall.
At the end of October, the authorities stopped two trains en route to China’s capital. Two train attendants are said to have been on board who had been on the same train as a passenger infected with Covid 19 a few days earlier. All of the around 350 passengers had to undergo corona tests and for seven days in a closed hotel quarantine with no exit.
A case recently caused outrage on social media in which employees of the health department are said to have killed the dog of a woman who had to go into hotel quarantine, allegedly to protect against the disease.
Recently, however, there have been increasing indications that China is considering some easing – albeit only after the Olympic Games. A government spokesman said he was hoping for a gradual easing of Beijing’s strict post-Olympic stance, according to Reuters news agency.
For the 2022 sports event in Beijing, which will take place in February, the organizers presented a strict concept in mid-October. The Games will take place in what is known as a “covid-proof bubble” designed to keep athletes and participants away from Beijing residents. Only people who live on the mainland should be allowed to watch.
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