Beijing closes many subway stations, bus routes to quell the epidemic

A subway station in Beijing was closed on May 4 – Photo: REUTERS

On May 4, Beijing announced the construction of 40 train stations, about one-tenth of the stations in this city and 158 bus lines. Most of the services closed are in Chaoyang district, where the most COVID-19 cases are concentrated, according to the South China Morning Post.

During the day, the city government announced that it recorded an additional 51 cases of COVID-19, 5 of which were asymptomatic. This number is still much lower than the epidemic point of Shanghai with nearly 5,000 cases, although the number of new cases here is on a decreasing trend.

However, Beijing still resolutely suppresses the epidemic. Schools in the city will have to postpone face-to-face teaching until May 11. Meanwhile, people who want to leave the city will have to test negative for COVID-19 and want to travel by train and plane must have a medical green code. The authorities will set up checkpoints on the roads in and out of the city.

From the night of May 3, people in 12 districts of Beijing began mass testing for COVID-19 divided into 3 phases and lasted until May 5.

Newspaper Guardian reported that the Chinese capital also opened its doors at the mass isolation center, Xiaotangshan Fangcai Hospital, showing that authorities are preparing for the possibility of an increase in the number of cases.

Despite its strong hand, Beijing has so far avoided a city-wide blockade. But AFP news agency quoted one resident as saying that “I think the city is in a state of partial closure” as more and more inner-city areas have to live behind barricades. “I don’t know how long the restrictions will last,” said another resident.

In other places like Zhengzhou city in central China, the government has also stepped up the fight against the epidemic, requiring people in the central area to stay indoors or in their own quarters.

In Shanghai, anti-epidemic measures began to be eased earlier this week when the government allowed 1 member of each household to go out to shop at supermarkets. The number of cases and the blockade area in this city of 25 million people has decreased sharply in recent days. But so far there is no sign that the blockade will end.