It’s not yet known when the lockdown will end. Source: Shutterstock.
Another COVID-19 outbreak has sent the 21 million residents of Chengdu into lockdown as China cracks down on its zero covid policy.
It’s been reported by Chengdu’s Health Commission that there have been 665 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of August 31 and over 3600 cases in the Sichuan province.
The government has ordered that people stay indoors from 6 pm September 1 in efforts to halt the spread of more cases. Officials have said that one person from each household who presents a negative test within 24 hours are allowed to leave home and go get necessary supplies.
It’s believed that essential workers are still allowed to attend their workplaces but that non-essential employees have been asked to work from home.
Public transport will still operate and citizens are only allowed to leave Chengdu if they have special permission. Hospitals, supermarkets, and pharmacies will remain open and so too will restaurants but only for takeaway service.
School students have also been asked to stay home as the school term has been delayed.
There’s no word on when the lockdown will end but authorities will be carrying out mass testing from Thursday to Sunday to determine how many cases there really are.
Social media has been flooded of people videos and photos of people panic buying and mass stocking.
Beijing’s grand plan to boost domestic consumption and save the economy is evidently to leak rumors of lockdowns and stir people to panic buy in bulk. #Chengdu pic.twitter.com/v5qMYuN5Oj
— Civilian drone (@hurt_chinese) September 1, 2022
People learnt the lesson from Shanghai’s lockdown, which last for two straight months, many people were trapped in their own homes without food and medications, that’s why people in Chengdu are panic buying. pic.twitter.com/llaUNCvpMb
— Nikki ??? (@nikki_miumiu) September 1, 2022
Earlier this year, Shanghai and its 25 million residents were sent into lockdown for two months amid a serious outbreak of COVID-19.
Economists are worried that further lockdowns could have a severe impact on the global economy.
“For now, the resulting disruption appears modest, but the threat of damaging lockdowns is growing. And even if they are avoided, we expect growth to remain subdued going forward,” said Capital Economics senior economist Julian Evans-Pritchard.
In total China has reported 956,000 COVID-19 cases and over 5,000 deaths.
