Schools closed in Beijing and flights suspended in Guangzhou

Ap and Afp

Newspaper La Jornada
Friday April 29, 2022, p. 12

Beijing. Authorities in Beijing ordered the closure of all schools in the city as Covid-19 restrictions tightened, in order to avoid a larger outbreak, while the megacity Canton canceled hundreds of flights and ordered 5.6 million to be tested. people, almost a third of its 19 million inhabitants after detecting a result anomalous in the airport.

Beijing, population 21 million, has ordered three rounds of mass testing in advance this week, with the third due today. The City Office of Education said it has not yet determined when classes will resume. It is also unclear whether schools will be able to offer lessons online or allow students who are about to take crucial exams to return to the classroom.

Beijing yesterday announced 50 new infections, two of them asymptomatic, bringing the total for the latest wave of infections to around 150. Pupils make up more than 30 percent of the total, with groups linked to six schools and two kindergartens. children in Chaoyang.

Also yesterday, residents of two housing complexes in Beijing’s Chaoyang district were ordered to stay in lockdown, with some clinics and businesses closed.

Beijing has moved faster than many Chinese cities to impose restrictions while the number of cases remains low and the outbreak is still manageable.

The goal is to avoid the drastic measures imposed in Shanghai, a city of 25 million inhabitants plagued by the omicron variant. Residents are in their fourth week of being confined to their homes and all schools have been conducting classes online since last month.

The strict measures have caused anger and frustration at the shortage of food and basic supplies, the inability of hospitals to deal with other health emergencies and the poor conditions at centralized quarantine sites, where anyone who tests positive or has contact with her.

Tests every 48 hours

The technology hub of Hangzhou, near Shanghai, ordered 9.4 million residents of the city center, out of a total population of 12.2 million, to be tested every 48 hours for access to public spaces and transportation.

The goal is that the virus has nowhere to hide and settlethe local government said in a statement, sparking fears of further restrictions in a city that is home to some of China’s biggest companies.

China is facing its worst coronavirus outbreak since the first wave in 2020, with its zero covid policy, lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions to eradicate contagion. The strategy has been in trouble with the contagious omicron variant, which has passed through the rigid health controls.

Yesterday, the Asian country reported 11,367 new infections, a small figure for a nation of 1,400 million inhabitants. However, it is enough to alarm the authorities of the country where the coronavirus was detected for the first time in 2019 and that until recently had practically not caused major infections.

A group of 37 passengers who appeared in a video drinking and partying amid the pandemic aboard a Sunwing flight from Montreal to Mexico last December were fined 59,500 Canadian dollars (about 950,000 pesos), the federal agency reported. TransportCanada.

Until yesterday, the global balance due to the pandemic was 6 million 230 thousand 517 deaths and 512 million 152 thousand 158 infections, said Johns Hopkins University.