Beijing residents snapped up food and other supplies as the city’s biggest district began mass testing of all residents on Monday (April 25), prompting fears of a Shanghai-style lockdown after dozens of COVID-19 cases in the capital in recent days.
Authorities in Chaoyang, home to 3.45 million people, late on Sunday (April 24) ordered residents and those who work there to be tested three times this week as Beijing warned the virus had “stealthily” spread in the city for about a week before being detected.
Shoppers in the city crowded stores and online platforms to stock up on leafy vegetables, fresh meat, instant noodles and rolls of toilet paper. In Beijing, supermarket chains including Carrefour and Wumart said they had more than doubled inventories, while Meituan’s grocery-focused e-commerce platform increased stocks and the number of staffers for sorting and delivery, according to the state-backed Beijing Daily.
Since Friday (April 22), Beijing has reported 47 locally transmitted cases, with Chaoyang accounting for more than half of them.
(Reuters)