One of the recent Changning cases was a man who arrived from Xinjiang on Oct. 2.
\nBEIJING
\nChina called for \u201cpatience\u201d with its tough COVID policies and warned against any \u201cwar-weariness\u201d as local cases soared to their highest since August, days ahead of a pivotal Communist Party congress.
\nMany countries are learning to co-exist with COVID-19, but China has repeatedly quashed any speculation of a let-up in its counter-epidemic policies, which can range from locking down a local community to sealing an entire city, even though fatalities remain low by global standards and symptoms, if any, are mostly mild.
\nPressure on officials to stop outbreaks as soon as they spring up has risen in recent weeks as the highly transmissible Omicron sub-variants BF.7 and BA.5.1.7 appeared in mainland China for the first time, ensnaring travellers during a just-ended week-long national holiday.
\nAcross China, 1,939 locally transmitted cases were reported on Oct. 9, the highest since Aug. 20, according to Reuters calculations based on official data published on Monday.
\nThousands of cases caused by the BF.7 have been reported in Inner Mongolia since Oct. 1, turning the region into China\u2019s latest COVID epicentre and activating localised lockdowns, wrecking havoc on travel plans during the National Day \u201cGolden Week\u201d holiday.
\nA few days into the Golden Week, the western region of Xinjiang also barred people from leaving its borders as cases started to tick higher. Tourists who are stranded in Xinjiang could seek temporary work as electricians, cooks and wood craftsmen, advised authorities in its capital Urumqi.
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\nShanghai, which locked down its entire population of 25 million in April and May, reported 34 local cases on Oct. 9, the most in almost three months.
\n\u201cThe transmission and pathogenicity (of Omicron) have not weakened, and it still poses a relatively large threat to the elderly and people with underlying diseases,\u201d according to a commentary in the state-owned People\u2019s Daily on Monday.
\n\u201cIt is for this reason that we must continue to remain vigilant against the spread of the epidemic, increase our confidence and patience in our country\u2019s epidemic prevention and control policies, and overcome any numbness of the mind, any war-weariness, any thought of leaving things to chance, and any complacency.\u201d
\nThe COVID restrictions came just days before a once-every-five-years Communist Party congress starting on Oct. 16, where Xi Jinping is widely expected to extend his decade-long leadership for another five years. read more
\nXu, a native from Inner Mongolia who works in Beijing, had planned to take the train back to the Chinese capital on Oct. 7 after attending a friend\u2019s wedding in her hometown of Baotou, but has since been trapped there due to a local quarantine lockdown.
\n\u201cWhat I worry most now is when I can get to return to Beijing,\u201d said Xu, who declined to identify herself further.
\n\u201cAll this waiting around is tough.\u201d
\n\u2018NOT OVER\u2019
\nWhile most of the new infections in Shanghai were detected in quarantine, the city\u2019s Putuo and Changning districs weren\u2019t taking any chances, announcing on Monday the suspension of leisure and entertainment venues.
\nOne of the recent Changning cases was a man who arrived from Xinjiang on Oct. 2. He was declared a carrier five days later.
\nGuests at the hotel where he stayed have been locked down. Patrons to the bars and restaurants he visited have been treated as close contacts.
\nSona and her husband were told to quarantine themselves at home after going to an underground bar strip that the Changning case visited.
\n\u201cIt wasn\u2019t even the same day as the guy was there, and we weren\u2019t even at the same (restaurant),\u201d said Sona, a foreigner who has lived in Shanghai for years, speaking on condition of anonymity.
\nThey have not been able to leave their home, as a magnetic device on the door installed by the authorities would track its opening and closing.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s really, really hard to deal with – you think it\u2019s over, but it\u2019s not over.\u201d
\nReporting by Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by Beijing Newsroom and Casey Hall in Shanghai; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Ana Nicolaci da Costa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the recent Changning cases was a man who arrived from Xinjiang on Oct. 2. BEIJING China called for \u201cpatience\u201d with its tough COVID policies and warned against any \u201cwar-weariness\u201d as local cases soared to their highest since August, days ahead of a pivotal Communist Party congress. Many countries are learning to co-exist with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288751,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-288734","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n