Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Sept 4 (Reuters) – China’s southern tech hub Shenzhen said it would adopt staggered virus restrictions from Monday, while the southwestern metropolis of Chengdu announced an extension of restrictions as the country grapples with new cases. Shenzhen, which went into weekend lockdown on Saturday, announced a new round of testing for COVID-19 and vowed to “focus all available resources, mobilize all forces and take all possible measures” to eradicate it. pandemic. Separately, Chengdu, which put its 21 million residents on lockdown on Thursday, said the city would maintain restrictions for most of the city and conduct more mass testing from Monday to Wednesday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up China is sticking to its strict policy of zero COVID-19, even though most other countries have eased restrictions and chosen to live with the virus. As a result, new cases have become a major risk for the world’s second-largest economy. Currently, 33 cities are under partial or full lockdown, affecting more than 65 million residents, according to an estimate by Chinese financial magazine Caixin. In Shenzhen, a city of 18 million people, an official said the risks remained significant. “Currently, the city’s coronavirus situation is serious and complicated. The number of new infections remains relatively high and the risk of community transmission still exists,” Lin Hancheng, a Shenzhen public health official, told a news conference. late on Sunday. The city reported 89 new locally transmitted cases of COVID for Sept. 3, compared with 87 a day earlier. read more
MANAGEMENT OF THREE LEVELS
Based on the weekend test results, Shenzhen will classify its areas into three categories, reflecting low, medium and high risk of infection, Lin said. In areas considered low-risk, the city will lift restrictions that confined much of its population to homes over the weekend, although lockdowns will remain in place in “high” and “medium” risk neighborhoods. In areas where infections have been identified, temporary restrictions will be extended for three days. The major districts of Futian, Nanshan and Longhua said entertainment venues such as cinemas and KTVS would remain closed and restaurants would allow dining at half capacity. Futian District’s Nanyuan neighborhood will continue to be treated as a medium-risk area because of the relatively large number of positive cases detected, Lin said. Separately, Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, said it would continue to impose COVID containment restrictions on most of the city. read more Even in two areas where life is allowed to return to normal – Xinjin District and Qionglai City – indoor dining will still be banned, while public activities such as conferences and performances will be strictly limited. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Reports from the Shanghai and Beijing newsrooms. Editing by David Goodman, Jan Harvey and Philippa Fletcher Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
