China locks down 27 cities over fears of Covid-19 outbreak
China has imposed full or partial lockdowns on at least 27 cities across the country, with restrictions affecting 165 million people, according to CNN calculations.
Most recently, China imposed lockdowns in its two largest cities, Beijing and Shanghai – two regions that power much of the country’s economy – in a relentless effort to quell outbreaks of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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| Photo: CNN |
Shanghai is the epicenter of the outbreakCovid-19The latest, with more than 10,000 cases a day. To cope with the rapid increase in infections, authorities locked down the city for several weeks, forcing the once-bustling financial center’s nearly 25 million residents to stay at home.
Beijing has also implemented widespread Covid-19 testing, closed schools, suspended funerals and weddings, and imposed targeted lockdowns on some residential buildings to contain the spread of the virus. These measures have raised concerns among residents that Beijing could see a broader lockdown, like Shanghai.
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.
