Beijing has only a few dozen daily cases of Covid-19.

But that's already too much for the Chinese capital, which has decided to close dozens of metro stations in the hope of restricting the movement of its 21 million inhabitants.

Largely spared for two years, China has faced its worst epidemic outbreak in recent weeks since the spring of 2020, which has undermined its zero Covid strategy.

Residents of Beijing, where 51 new cases were reported on Wednesday, fear their city will be locked down, like Shanghai, China's largest city with 25 million people, where most cases are recorded.

Almost a fifth of stations closed

The Beijing Metro announced the closure of about 60 stations on Wednesday, or about 18% of the network, many of which are near confined areas, according to its WeChat page.

"The entrances and exits of the stations will be closed... But the changes [of line] can be made inside the stations", specifies the notice.

The metropolis of Shanghai, the country's economic capital, where residents have been confined for more than a month, recorded nearly 5,000 new cases on Wednesday, a figure down as the city eased certain measures.

Anyone who tests positive is sent there to a quarantine center, with variable comfort and often deplorable hygienic conditions.

padlocked buildings

In Beijing, residential complexes where contamination has been identified are padlocked to prevent residents from leaving.

Municipal government spokesman Xu Hejian told reporters on Wednesday that the capital would "temporarily extend" restrictions, including banning restaurants and closing entertainment venues and sports clubs.

Officials initially said the restrictions would end with the end of the Labor Day holiday on Thursday.

During these holidays, during which the Chinese usually travel in a massive way, the tourist sites were almost deserted.

A city “already half-confined”

To curb contagion, restaurants are prohibited from welcoming customers and can only sell take-out.

Residents have started stocking up on food and basic necessities for fear of lockdown.

But authorities also appeared to be relaxing some rules, with Xu Hejian saying people arriving in Beijing from overseas would be required to observe a 10-day supervised quarantine and one week of home isolation, down from 21 days of quarantine previously.

“I think the city is already half-locked down,” said a Beijing resident, whose residential complex is cordoned off by authorities, on condition of anonymity.

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