“It felt like my insides were crying”: China COVID curbs hit youth mental health
FARAH MASTER and XIAOYU YIN, of Reuters, report on the impact of China’s ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns on young people…
Chinese cities break heat records, weather extremes to persist
Beijing, China Reuters Several Chinese cities broke new records for high temperatures on Tuesday as scorching heat and contrasting relentless rains wreaked havoc, with local forecasters expecting the weather extremes to linger for days. Red alerts, the highest in a three-tier warning system, were dispersed throughout the country on Tuesday and cities took measures to […]
After two months, a scarred Shanghai’s COVID-19 lockdown ends
Shanghai, ChinaReuters Following two months of frustration, despair and economic loss, Shanghai’s draconian COVID-19 lockdown ended at midnight on Wednesday morning, prompting celebrations tempered with fear that an outbreak could return. Most of Shanghai’s 25 million residents can now freely leave home, return to work, use public transport and drive their cars – a moment […]
“Entry only. No exit”: Beijing sees more COVID closures as anger grows in Shanghai
Beijing/Shanghai, ChinaReuters China’s capital Beijing closed more businesses and residential compounds on Friday, with authorities ramping up contact tracing to contain a COVID-19 outbreak, while resentment at the month-long lockdown in Shanghai grew. In the finance hub, fenced-in people have been protesting against the lockdown and difficulties in obtaining provisions by banging on pots and […]
Beijing shoppers throng stores as district starts mass testing
Beijing, ChinaReuters Beijing residents snapped up food and other supplies as the city’s biggest district began mass COVID-19 testing of all residents on Monday, prompting fears of a Shanghai-style lockdown after dozens of cases in the capital in recent days. Authorities in Chaoyang, home to 3.45 million people, late on Sunday ordered residents and those […]
Worldwide COVID cases surpass 500 million as Omicron variant BA.2 surges
Reuters Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 500 million last week, according to a Reuters tally, as the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron surges in many countries in Europe and Asia. The rise of BA.2 has been blamed for recent surges in China as well as record infections in Europe. It has been called the “stealth variant” because […]
Shanghai widens COVID testing as other Chinese cities impose curbs
Shanghai, ChinaReuters Shanghai on Friday announced a record 21,000 new cases and a third consecutive day of COVID testing as a lockdown of its 26 million people showed no sign of easing and other Chinese cities tightened curbs – even in places with no recent infections. Beijing authorities intervened in Shanghai after its failure to […]
Shanghai scrambles to secure food supplies as COVID lockdown hits
Shanghai, ChinaReuters Residents in the major Chinese financial centre of Shanghai, with 26 million under lockdown, scrambled to secure food on Wednesday, with supermarkets shut and deliveries restricted amid another citywide COVID-19 testing program. The government of the city, which is in the grips of its biggest-ever COVID-19 outbreak, said on Wednesday it would not […]
China sends military, doctors to Shanghai to test 26 million residents for COVID
Shanghai, ChinaReuters China has sent the military and thousands of healthcare workers into Shanghai to help carry out COVID-19 tests for all of its 26 million residents as cases continued to rise on Monday, in one of the country’s biggest-ever public health responses. Some residents woke up before dawn for white-suited healthcare workers to swab […]
China’s Shanghai split in two for COVID lockdown as asymptomatic cases surge
Shanghai, ChinaReuters China’s financial hub of Shanghai launched a planned two-stage lockdown of the city of 26 million people on Monday, closing bridges and tunnels, and restricting highway traffic in a scramble to contain surging local COVID-19 cases. The snap lockdown, announced by Shanghai’s city government on Sunday, will split the city in two roughly […]