China locks down 27 cities over Covid-19 outbreak fears

Most recently, China imposed lockdowns on its two largest cities, Beijing and Shanghai, which power much of the country’s economy, in a relentless effort to quell outbreaks of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Photo: CNN

Shanghai is the epicenter of the outbreakCovid-19The latest, with more than 10,000 new cases a day. In response to the rapid increase in infections, authorities locked down the city for several weeks, forcing the once-bustling financial hub’s nearly 25 million residents to stay home.

Beijing has also conducted widespread Covid-19 testing, closed schools, suspended funerals and weddings, and imposed targeted lockdowns on some residential buildings to curb infections. These measures have raised concerns that Beijing could follow the example of Shanghai in implementing a broader lockdown.

Beijing has imposed restrictions faster than anywhere else in the country, despite the city’s low number of Covid-19 cases. Yesterday, Beijing reported just 50 new cases, bringing the total in the latest wave to 150.

In Guangzhou, a manufacturing hub in southern China, authorities canceled hundreds of flights and decided to test about 5.6 million people for Covid-19 after discovering a suspected case.

Coronavirus cases in China began rising rapidly in March and quickly became the country's worst outbreak since the first outbreak in Wuhan in early 2020.