Hundreds of people were seen to be standing in long queues in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen to get tested for the coronavirus. In the midst of China’s growing COVID-19 crisis, videos surfaced on social media showing people waiting for their turn to undergo mandated testing against coronavirus.
Shenzhen. Another day.https://t.co/JLQx8AGfpn
Millions of Chinese people , are lining up to do daily mandatory Covid test , after work , to keep their movement licenses-QR code vaccine passports green , to be able to walk around and work tomorrow.
2022/03/10 pic.twitter.com/APchWvt6V6 — Songpinganq (@songpinganq) March 10, 2022
Chinese Covid test services running 24 hours.
This is aerial view of , millions of Chinese people are still lining up , to do daily mandatory Covid test at 11PM.
If you don’t do it,you may get arrested.https://t.co/KzsY3teL9o pic.twitter.com/91o7EzDjms — Songpinganq (@songpinganq) March 8, 2022
Shenzhen authorities had previously enforced a one-week shutdown due to the rise in COVID-19 cases. Adults have been requested to take three PCR tests and non-essential employees have been instructed to stay at home, ANI reported. Further, on Thursday, the mainland of China recorded 2,388 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections, much higher than 1,266 cases on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Chinese officials have tightened restrictions in some areas of Shanghai in response to a surge in COVID-19 infections, further aggravating locals who were already frustrated by the administration’s lack of sensitivity. The citizens have used megaphones to voice their concerns to communicate with security officers.
COVID-19 cases in China
According to the Chinese National Health Commission, the north-eastern province of Jilin recorded 1,834 instances, Fujian Province claimed 113 cases, the southern province of Guangdong, which contains the metropolis of Shenzhen, confirmed 74 infections, Xinhua reported.
China on Tuesday recorded two times more additional COVID-19 infections, indicating that the nation is experiencing the pandemic’s largest outbreak yet. The stealth variant of Omicron, BA.2, has been blamed for the increase in infections, as per media reports.
Amid the fast rebound of COVID-19 infections, Shanghai-based infectious disease specialist Zhang Wenhong suggested that Beijing should use the time to develop comprehensive and long-term anti-epidemic tactics. On Monday, he shared a post on the Chinese social media network Sina Weibo. He described the current COVID scenario in the country as China’s “most difficult period” since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.
Meanwhile, Chinese observers cautioned local governments not to use drastic measures like city lockdowns because they would affect the local economy, according to official media.
(Image: Pixabay/ AP)