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Kawala Xie

The Chinese capital is on high alert with a new wave of Covid-19 infections hitting several university campuses in the city amid Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations.
The cases also come as Beijing prepares for the Communist Party’s national congress in mid-October.
Beijing reported 16 new local symptomatic cases and two asymptomatic infections on Saturday.
Authorities in the capital also said on Saturday afternoon that there had been seven cases at Communication University of China in Chaoyang district.
The university was locked down on Friday after a case was reported, and Chaoyang authorities ordered all students and staff to be tested overnight.
Photos posted online reportedly showed parts of the university taped off and health officials in full protective gear on campus.


While the university said in a statement that supplies would be ensured during the lockdown, students complained on social media about delays in receiving food and tests.
“No one came to deliver a meal. No one came to ask us to do the nucleic acid testing,” one student wrote on Weibo.
Beijing’s Civil Aviation General Hospital also suspended admissions on Saturday after a confirmed case from Communication University visited the facility.
Beijing city government spokesman Xu Hejian said: “Many schools in our city have detected infections, indicating the capital’s universities are an important part of pandemic prevention and control, and must be given high attention.
“The pandemic has no holidays, and prevention and control cannot be relaxed. Today is the first day of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, and the risk is underlined by people moving around and gathering.”
Chinese officials apologise for food shortages after Covid lockdown
New clusters have been reported this week in a number of schools in Beijing including at the middle school affiliated with Minzu University and the Changping campus of Beijing University of Chemical Technology.
As of Friday, the middle school had 16 cases and 1,589 close contacts of confirmed cases, while BUCT had 41 cases.
Beijing authorities said all close contacts had been put under Covid-19 management and the cluster had not spread to the local community.
Beijing’s city government is trying to keep a lid on cases by urging all residents to “stay put” during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, which starts on October 1.
Only people who have not been to regions with Covid-19 cases in the past seven days will be allowed to enter the capital and they must provide negative Covid-19 test results taken within the previous 48 hours.
On Friday, Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan, who oversees the country’s Covid-19 response, instructed State Council officials to take “resolute measures” to control the virus as soon as possible and minimise the effects on communities.


China’s zero Covid-19 policy is under challenge, with millions of people under lockdown in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu when a deadly magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit last week.
In the southern city of Guiyang, authorities in the community of Huaguoyuan apologised and vowed to ensure food supplies after residents complained online that they were running out.
And in Dongxing, on the border with Vietnam, residents have said online that families have fled the city due to deep financial troubles amid repeated lockdowns.
“It has almost become an empty town now, from more than 100,000 people to a few thousand now,” a social media post said.
China reported 239 new local Covid-19 cases and 994 asymptomatic cases nationwide on Saturday.


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Coronavirus China

Beijing on Covid alert as university clusters trigger mass testing

Beijing is trying to contain outbreaks of the coronavirus as the Communist Party’s national congress approaches. Photo: AP

China calls for mass Covid-19 testing, but it could burden local governments

Residents line up to register for routine Covid-19 swabs at a testing site in Beijing on Monday. Photo: AP 

Officials apologise after Covid lockdown causes food shortages for hundreds of thousands in Chinese city

An aerial photo shows a community testing site for Covid-19 in a Guiyang district, in southwest China’s Guizhou province, September 5. Residents have complained they were left to starve because of a lockdown. Photo: Xinhua

Is Xi Jinping’s trip overseas the beginning of the end for China’s zero-Covid policy?

Illustration: Perry Tse

News

China

Science


Communication University locked down to try to contain a crop of new coronavirus cases
The pandemic has no holidays, government spokesman says, urging residents to stay home



The pandemic has no holidays, government spokesman says, urging residents to stay home.


Beijing on Covid alert as university clusters trigger mass testing

Communication University locked down to try to contain a crop of new coronavirus cases The pandemic has no holidays, government spokesman says, urging residents to stay home

Communication University locked down to try to contain a crop of new coronavirus cases

The pandemic has no holidays, government spokesman says, urging residents to stay home