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Chinese cities imposed new lockdowns and travel restrictions after the number of daily new COVID-19 cases tripled during the week-long holiday ahead of a key Communist Party meeting in Beijing next week.
The latest lockdown began on Monday in the city of Fenyang in northern China’s Shanxi province, after initial positive cases were detected across the city the previous day, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
In the nearby Inner Mongolia region, the capital Hohhot announced a ban on foreign vehicles and passengers from entering the city starting Tuesday. Hohhot recorded more than 2,000 cases in about 12 days.
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China is one of the few places in the world still taking drastic measures to stop the spread of the disease. The long-ruling Communist Party is particularly concerned as it tries to present a positive image of the country at its five-yearly party congress, which begins on Sunday.
Travel has been curtailed during the annual National Day holiday, which begins on October 1, as authorities discourage people from leaving their cities and provinces. But the daily number of new cases still rose to about 1,800 from 600 at the start of the break.
Leaders don’t want a major outbreak to overshadow the convention, but their strict “coronavirus zero” measures have already taken a toll on the economy, especially for small businesses and temporary workers. Meeting.
Epidemic reports have been reported all over the country, with Inner Mongolia and the westernmost Xinjiang region being the most severely affected. Both are recording hundreds of new cases every day.
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Shanghai, where residents were under prolonged lockdown earlier this year, and the capital Beijing both have small but rising cases. Two districts in Shanghai announced the closure of movie theaters and other entertainment venues on Monday.
Queuing multiple times a week for free virus tests has become the norm for many Chinese, with Beijing and other cities requiring a negative test result within 72 hours to enter parks, office buildings, shops and other public spaces.
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