BEIJING (AFP) — Around 16 million people in the Chinese city of Chengdu will be effectively under lockdown from Thursday as authorities race to snuff out a new Covid-19 outbreak.
China is the last major economy wedded to a zero-Covid policy, stamping out virus flare-ups with snap shutdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines.
Chengdu, in the southwest, has become the latest to announce a shutdown, saying in an official notice that residents must "stay home in principle" from 6 p.m. on Thursday to combat a new wave of infections.
Chengdu recorded 157 new local infections on Thursday, of which 51 displayed no symptoms, the city government said in a separate notice.
Under the lockdown, each household will be allowed to send one person out to buy groceries and essential goods per day, provided they have tested negative in the previous 24 hours, the notice said.
It said that all residents would be tested for the virus between Thursday and Sunday, and urged them not to leave the city unless "absolutely necessary."
"The current state of epidemic control is abnormal, complex and grim," the announcement said, adding that the measures aimed to "decisively arrest the spread of the outbreak and guarantee the health of all citizens."
Children in at least 10 cities and provinces are facing disruption to the new academic year as pandemic controls force schools to switch to measures like online learning, according to a report on Thursday by a media outlet affiliated with the state-run People's Daily.
