Beijing closes shopping mall and residential complexes after COVID-19 cases

Beijing decreed the closure of a major shopping center and confined several residential complexes on Thursday in response to a recent covid-19 outbreak in the capital, where the wave of infections from the rest of the country has arrived.

Although the level of infections is barely residual compared to most countries in the world, China carries out a strategy of zero tolerance with the virus, imposing severe restrictions and massive screening when some cases are detected.

In the case of the capital, where the main leaders of the Communist Party hold a plenary session of the Central Committee, six new cases were found in the central districts of Chaoyang and Haidian, local media reported.

All of them are linked to contacts of recently infected people in Jilin province (northeast).

The Raffles City shopping center in the center of the capital was closed on Wednesday night after a close contact of an infected person visited the gallery, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Exits were blocked and workers and customers were unable to leave until undergoing a coronavirus test. The center was still closed on Thursday.

Additionally, four residential communities, an elementary school and an office building were confined Thursday, with tens of thousands of people prevented from leaving and forced to undergo massive screening.

Local media in these confined areas showed workers in protective suits collecting bags of food for trapped residents.

While other countries soften their measures against the virus, China maintains its strategy to completely eradicate it from the country, with severe measures and strong restrictions on international mobility.

This latest wave has caused the confinement of millions of people and the limitation of internal travel, with numerous planes and trains canceled. (I)