The financial hub has ordered multi-day curfews for residents of multiple neighbourhoods
\n BEIJING
\nMillions of people in Beijing stayed home on Monday as China\u2019s capital tries to fend off a Covid-19 outbreak with creeping restrictions on movement.
\nBeijing residents fear they may soon find themselves in the grip of the same draconian measures that have trapped most of Shanghai\u2019s 25 million people at home for several weeks.
\nOfficials there have said the eastern powerhouse is winning its battle against the country\u2019s worst outbreak since the pandemic began.
\nYet the Shanghai lockdown has intensified, causing outrage and rare protest in the last major economy still glued to a zero-Covid policy.
\nThat policy has winded an economy which just months ago had shown China was bouncing back fast from the pandemic.
\nCustoms data released Monday said exports in April slumped to their lowest monthly rate since June 2020, as key supply chains from Shanghai to Shenzhen became knotted by restrictions.
\nThere is also a pressing political dynamic to China\u2019s virus response, with President Xi Jinping pegging the legitimacy of his leadership to protecting Chinese lives from Covid.
\nXi, who is expected to secure another five-year term as president later this year, has doubled down on the zero-Covid approach, despite mounting frustrations among the public.
\nIn Beijing, subway stations and offices were empty during rush hour Monday morning across Chaoyang \u2014 the city\u2019s most populous district \u2014 after officials stepped up a work-from-home order on Sunday over rising Covid cases.
\nNon-essential businesses in the district, home to 3.5 million people, were shuttered, with even the Apple store in the popular Sanlitun shopping area ordered to close after opening briefly in the morning.
\n\u201cI feel very uncomfortable seeing so few people around,\u201d Wang, a middle-aged cleaner waiting outside a restaurant for her shift to start, told AFP.
\nBeijing has reported hundreds of infections in recent weeks, with 49 new Covid-19 infections confirmed on Monday, a relatively tiny number by international comparisons but enough to stir restrictions in the political heart of the country.
\nSome finance workers were moving into hotels near their offices, as restrictions start to shape daily life in the city of 21 million.
\n\u201cOur company said we should try not to go home as they feel that there may be risks in commuting,\u201d a Beijing-based investment manager who has moved into a hotel near his workplace.
\n\u201cSome of my friends have been advised not to take public transport to work, and to drive or take a bicycle, so as not to be affected by the spread.\u201d
\nShanghaied
\nShanghai has borne the brunt of the country\u2019s Omicron surge, with more than 500 deaths, according to official numbers.
\nThe financial hub has ordered multi-day curfews for residents of multiple neighbourhoods, according to notices seen by AFP, even as daily case numbers have dwindled into the low thousands.
\nAnger has seethed online at the perceived bungling of virus controls, mixed messaging and heavy-handedness of Shanghai officials, including sweeping people with negative Covid tests into state quarantine and leaving entire neighbourhoods short of food.
\nThe frustration has also hit the streets \u2014 in a country where protest is rare and swiftly snuffed out by authorities.
\nAuthorities have verified a video that ripped across social media over the weekend showing residents in Zhuanqiao Town neighbourhood clashing with hazmat-suited health authorities over food shortages.
\n\u201cPolice took action as soon as possible to persuade onlookers to disperse and calm the situation down,\u201d a statement by the Zhuanqiao Town Covid response team said Sunday.
\n\u201cAccording to an on-site investigation, the troublemakers had sufficient supplies at home.\u201d
\nResidents of the neighbourhoods hit by new curfews \u2014 including some areas previously declared lower-risk \u2014 have been ordered not to step out of their apartments except for PCR tests for as long as a week and forbidden from ordering \u201cnon-essential\u201d deliveries, according to the notices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The financial hub has ordered multi-day curfews for residents of multiple neighbourhoods BEIJING Millions of people in Beijing stayed home on Monday as China\u2019s capital tries to fend off a Covid-19 outbreak with creeping restrictions on movement. Beijing residents fear they may soon find themselves in the grip of the same draconian measures that have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259618,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[7015,7014,7013],"class_list":{"0":"post-259600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-downtown-beijing","9":"tag-smothers-capital","10":"tag-zero-covid-policy"},"yoast_head":"\n