China announced this Sunday (20) the first death by Covid-19 since May this year. The victim is an 87-year-old man from Beijing, where the increase in cases has led to the progressive closure of commercial establishments. He had mild symptoms of Covid, but the condition worsened with a bacterial infection, according to the public television channel CCTV.
The National Health Commission announced more than 24,000 new local positive cases in 24 hours in the country, most of them asymptomatic. The large manufacturing province of Guangdong (south), where the metropolises of Guangzhou and Shenzhen are located, is the most affected.
Beijing has reported 621 new cases. Part of the population is in confinement in their homes and many people have been sent to quarantine centers.
But unlike in previous outbreaks, the authorities seem to want to avoid for the moment imposing widespread restrictions on a population increasingly irritated by the strictness of anti-Covid measures.
Major shopping centers in Beijing announced their closures on Sunday. Others have reduced opening hours and some restaurants have adopted restrictions — many are closed to customers, but deliveries are still allowed.
Many commercial buildings in the Chaoyang district, which is home to companies and embassies, have asked employees to return to telecommuting.
Some schools have resumed distance learning. Parks, sports areas and gyms also closed.
Authorities on Saturday urged residents to avoid “non-essential” travel between Beijing’s districts to curb the spread of the virus.
The metropolis of Guangzhou, which announced more than 8,000 new positive cases, this Sunday started large-scale tests in the central district of Haizhu, where almost 1.8 million people live.
China announced on November 11 a relaxation of the ‘Covid zero’ strategy, with measures such as reducing quarantines, in particular for people arriving from abroad. But the return to normality remains distant, with several confinements, quarantines and large-scale tests.
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