China imposes lockdowns as Covid-19 surges after holiday

Chinese cities were imposing fresh lockdowns and travel restrictions after the number of new daily Covid19 cases tripled during a weeklong holiday ahead of a major Communist Party meeting in Beijing next weekThe latest lockdown started on Monday in Fenyang city in northern Chinas Shanxi province after a preliminary positive case was found in citywide testing the previous day state broadcaster CCTV reportedIn the nearby Inner Mongolia region the capital Hohhot announced that outside vehicles and passengers would be prohibited from entering the city starting on TuesdayHohhot has recorded more than 2000 cases over about 12 daysChina is one of the few places in the world still resorting to harsh measures to keep the disease from spreadingThe longruling Communist Party is particularly concerned as it tries to present a positive image of the nation in the runup to a onceinfiveyears party congress that starts on SundayAlso Read Shop owner shot dead by two bikeborne men in Delhis BindapurTravel was down during an annual National Day holiday that began October 1 as authorities discouraged people from leaving their cities and provincesBut the number of new daily cases has still grown to about 1800 from 600 at start of the breakLeaders dont want a major outbreak to cast a pall over the congress but their strict zeroCovid approach has taken an economic toll particularly on small businesses and temporary workersMany in China hope the pandemic policy will ease after the meetingOutbreaks have been reported across the country with the largest in Inner Mongolia and the farwest Xinjiang region Both have been recording several hundred new cases a dayBoth Shanghai where residents endured prolonged lockdowns earlier this year and the national capital Beijing have had a small but growing number of casesTwo Shanghai districts announced closures of cinemas and other entertainment venues last weekLining up for a free virus test several times a week has become the norm for many Chinese with Beijing and other cities requiring a negative test result within 72 hours to enter parks office buildings shops and other public placesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever