Covid in Beijing, 40 subway stations closed (and in Shanghai a disinfected rug) – Corriere.it

From our correspondent from Beijing
Beijing It doesn’t have to be a new one Shanghai.
The goal of the strategists of “Zero Covid”, which plays in the capital previously, to prevent the Omicron variant from imposing the same stifling lockdown imposed on the metropolis of Shanghai for more than five weeks. The outbreak has been identified On April 25th in Chaoyang District It has already been restricted by imposing five rounds of tampons on the 3.5 million residents of the area and another 15 million citizens of other neighbourhoods. Only 450 cases emerged in five rounds of testing, but in order not to take risks, and to avoid infection, As of today, the entrances to about 40 subway stations are blocked in the central eastern region of Beijing Where offices, embassies, apartment complexes, luxury shopping malls, restaurants and nightclubs are concentrated, which usually attract tens of thousands of people daily. 40 closed metro stations are all five of those lines that cross Chaoyang District and represent about 10 percent of the city’s total. (Beijing has 24 subway lines, with 428 stations.) Trains pass through the Covid-controlled area and only stop to allow passengers to change lines, where there are intersections. The stops of many bus lines passing through Chaoyang District have also been suspended.

The authorities continue to say that the situation in Beijing remains criticalToday, it was announced 50 injuriesBut the lockdowns are not as general and stifling as in Shanghai. Only residents of areas where positive cases have been found are confined to their homes. Chaoyang office staff have been told to work from home, restaurants can only deliver to home, for public transportation, a negative test obtained must be shown within 48 hours, tourist attractions such as Forbidden City are closed.

Beijingers remain anxious, they always fear they will end up like Shanghainese and have taken precautions by hoarding food for a possible prolonged health blockade. But right now, there is a feeling that the metropolitan authorities are in control of the situation and they are Able to avoid chaos and protests in Shanghai that humiliated the local party.

To contribute to feeling more resilient than in Shanghai, Beijing authorities Shortening the quarantine period for those coming from abroad: They will have to pass 10 days under observation in a Covid hotel then others 7 days of isolation at home. In the past two years, the statute of limitations has been 21 days in complete isolation, of which at least 14 days have been in a supervised center. It is a far cry from the main reopening for foreigners (and for Chinese who want to return to Beijing from abroad), because flights to the capital’s airports are always very few, no more than 5% of the flights before the epidemic.

There are encouraging signs from Shanghai

. Today were the cases 4600, still less At a peak of 27,000 on April 13. In total, of the nearly 700,000 infections identified since March 1, 491 have officially died. While the majority of 26 million people are allowed to leave their homes, but without venturing further than a few short-haul trails, major cities traverse it Teams of operators wearing airtight suits sprayed with disinfectant Piers, walls and doors of buildings, squares, and even railings along the river. Thorough cleaning before re-opening.