China’s current outbreak, fuelled by a more contagious variant that has swept through every province in recent weeks, is posing a challenge to authorities ahead of the Communist Party congress when Mr Xi is expected to secure a precedent-breaking third term as the country’s leader.
There were 1334 infections reported for Wednesday, marking a month during which cases were above 1000 a day.
Daily PCR tests for rescue workers
In Luding county, where the earthquake struck, rescue personnel must get COVID-19 tests daily, and entering indoor venues requires multiple checks, according to a statement issued by the local virus prevention office that has since been deleted.
Workers need to be approved by the local COVID-19 control office, have a negative test result from within 24 hours and hold a green health code to enter the region. They need another PCR test to get into the controlled area, the statement said.
The earthquake followed a heat wave and drought which triggered a power crunch in the region. Chengdu, meanwhile, has been locked down as COVID-19 infections surged. Authorities extended the week-long lockdown on Thursday, pledging to eliminate the spread of the virus within a week.
Rescuers transfer survivors across a river following an earthquake in Luding county. AP
Home to 21 million people, Chengdu is the biggest city to shut down since Shanghai’s bruising two-month lockdown earlier this year, and the measures underscore the government’s commitment to eradicating the virus even as the economic costs climb.
The restrictions have aroused frustration and angst. Local authorities told residents of the quake-rattled region who are trying to stay with friends and family that they must learn and report back on the COVID-19 control requirements in the new areas in advance. They can only leave with a negative test result.
People in some neighbourhoods were not allowed to leave their homes, according to posts and videos circulated on Chinese social media.
Restrictions were placed on the entire region. No external groups were allowed to enter to help with the rescue work at the direction of the COVID-19 prevention department of Sichuan’s Ganzi prefecture, home to the county hit by the earthquake.
Lao Dongyan, a law professor from Tsinghua University, said on the social media platform Weibo that she could not believe the COVID-19 rules for quake rescuers and victims were real.
Her post was shared 22,000 times and attracted more than 3500 comments, most agreeing with her and saying the order was crazy. One said people could die from the earthquake, but they cannot get COVID-19.
The potential ramifications from the coronavirus measures came into sharp relief as tremors from the earthquake hit in locked-down Chengdu, where people were only allowed to leave their homes at certain times.
A widely circulated social media post showed the exit of a residential compound that was blocked because of COVID-19 controls, even as people were trying to escape from the building.
“It’s COVID downstairs (where people line up for COVID-19 tests), and earthquake upstairs (where people feel the tremors),” one social media user wrote in a post.
Bloomberg
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