COVID-19 Infection Cases Continue to Soar, Beijing Closes Parks, Shopping Centers and Museums

Illustration of mass COVID-19 tests in China. (Wikimedia Commons/David290)

JAKARTA - Beijing closed parks, shopping malls, and museums on Tuesday, as more Chinese cities resumed mass testing for COVID-19, as China battles a surge in infection cases, dampening hopes for normalization.

China reported 28,127 new local cases nationwide on Monday, near its daily peak from April, with infections in the southern city of Guangzhou and the southwestern city of Chongqing accounting for about half of the total.

In the capital Beijing, cases hit a new high every day, prompting calls from the city government for more residents to stay.

There were two new deaths attributed to COVID-19 by health officials, compared with three over the weekend, the first in China since May.

China's capital warned on Monday it was facing the most severe test of the COVID-19 pandemic and tightened rules for entering the city, requiring arrivals from elsewhere in China to undergo COVID testing for three days before they are allowed to leave their accommodation.

Many Beijing residents have seen their buildings locked down, although the restrictions often last only a few days. Several townspeople claimed to have experienced delays in the delivery of necessities, due to the heavy volume.

Many museums were closed and venues such as Happy Valley theme park and the city's sprawling Chaoyang Park, popular with runners and picnickers, said Tuesday they would be closed because of the outbreak. Beijing reported 1,438 new local cases, up from 962 on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Tianjin City, near Beijing, on Tuesday became the latest to announce city-wide testing, following a similar announcement on Sunday by Shijiazhuang.

Even after the changed guidelines, China remains a global outlier with strict COVID restrictions, including borders that have remained closed for nearly three years since the pandemic.

Tightening measures in Beijing and other cities, even as China tries to circumvent city-wide lockdowns such as the one that crippled Shanghai this year, have renewed investor concerns about the economy and pushed global stocks and oil prices down overnight.

The city of Wuhan, where the virus was first discovered, issued a notice on Tuesday urging its residents to only travel between home and work.

Separately, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who has spearheaded China's zero-COVID policy, visited Chongqing on Monday and urged authorities there to comply with the measures and control the outbreak, the city government said.

China believes that President Xi Jinping's signature zero-COVID policy saves lives and is necessary to prevent the healthcare system from being overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, many experts warn a full reopening will require a massive vaccination drive and change the message in a country where the disease is still widely feared.

Authorities said they plan to build more capacity in hospitals and fever clinics to screen patients and are formulating a vaccination program.