BEIJING (AP) — Residents of China’s capital were emptying supermarket shelves and overwhelming delivery apps Friday as town government ordered accelerated construction of COVID-19 quarantine centers and field hospitals.
Uncertainty and scattered, unconfirmed reports of a lockdown on not less than some Beijing districts have fueled the demand for food and other supplies, something not seen in town for months.
Each day cases of COVID-19 across the country are hitting records, with 32,695 reported Friday. Of those, 1,860 were in Beijing, nearly all of them asymptomatic.
Improvised quarantine centers and field hospitals rapidly thrown up in gymnasiums, exhibition centers and other large, open indoor spaces have turn out to be notorious for overcrowding, poor sanitation, scarce food supplies and lights that stay on 24 hours.
Most residents of town have already been advised not to go away their compounds, a few of that are being fenced in. At entrances, employees clad head to toe in white hazmat suits stop unauthorized people and be sure that residents scan their cellphone health apps to achieve entry.
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A few of Beijing’s grocery delivery services have reached capability.
A rise in demand combined with a employee shortage left some customers unable to book same-day slots Friday for food and supplies from popular online grocery services resembling Alibaba’s Freshippo and Meituan Maicai.
Online, some Chinese users said there have been delivery employees whose compounds were locked down, contributing to the employee shortage. The Associated Press was unable to independently confirm those reports.
Alibaba didn’t immediately comment.
At a Friday afternoon news conference, city government spokesperson Xu Hejian said it was needed “to strengthen the management and repair guarantee” of quarantine centers and field hospitals where those that test positive for COVID-19 or have been in close contact with an infected person are transported to by police.
Authorities must “further speed up” their construction and “coordinate the allocation of space, facilities, materials, personnel and other resources,” Xu said.
Officials have in recent days repeatedly insisted that China must persist with its hard-line “zero-COVID” policy that mandates lockdowns, mass testing and quarantines for anyone suspected of getting come into contact with the virus. The policy is seen as taking a harsh toll on the economy and upending lives in lots of Chinese cities, leading the World Health Organization and others to call for a change in tack — calls the ruling Communist Party has angrily rejected.
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