Covid-19: Beijing is in lockdown again in China

Xi Jinping’s Zero-Covid Policy has resulted in a lockdown of parts of Beijing on Sunday, as the pandemic spreads to more and more Chinese cities.

Xu in Hejian, the city government’s spokesperson, said that the Haidian, Chaoyang and Fengtai districts had been put on lockdown by the authorities, according to China’s Global Times.

All indoor entertainment venues, gyms, training institutes, and shopping malls have been shut down since Sunday, according to Chinese media reports.

According to a statement attributed to Xu Hejian, all graded scenic points in the capital city will be suspended, and visitors to all parks will be limited to 30 percent of their capacity.

Beijing’s residents have been asked to stay home until May 28 because of the domestically transmitted COVID-19 situation.

Xu said that the situation with COVID-19 has been complicated by the highly contagious Omicron, with most patients only presenting mild symptoms, when explaining the reasons for the increase in sporadic cases.

People’s disregard for the Covid-19 precautionary norms has also contributed to the clustered outbreak, which has increased the transmission risk of the disease, Global Times reported.

Of the total of 157 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases reported in China on Saturday, 52 were reported in Beijing, and nine were reported as asymptomatic, according to a Sunday report from the national health commission.