Beijing started a new round of mass testing in its most populous downtown district after a rapidly spreading outbreak linked to a bar saw Covid rules tightened again in the capital. China is the last major economy still committed to a zero-Covid strategy, stamping out new cases with a combination of targeted lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines.
But that strategy is being stretched to the limit by the fast-spreading Omicron variant, as both Beijing and Shanghai have seen fresh clusters just days after lifting restrictions such as lockdowns, restaurant and office closures. The cluster “arrived with ferocious momentum and the difficulty of prevention and control is huge,” Beijing government spokesman Xu Hejian told reporters. Chaoyang district started a three-day testing drive for all its 3.5 million residents and sealed off several downtown residential compounds and malls over the weekend. – AFP