May 9, 2022.
The spread of Covid-19 in Beijing and Shanghai was brought to the attention of the Chinese government on Monday in a renewed push to quash it.
A man wearing personal protective equipment rides a bicycle in Beijing.
According to the National Health Commission of China, Beijing and Shanghai added 49 and 3,947 new Covid-19 cases on Monday.
The number of new infections in the Chinese capital has largely remained the same, around 50 a day.
The financial hub has continued to report new cases outside the designated zones, which has prevented authorities from relaxing the restrictions that have been in place for more than six weeks.
As the city works towards the goal of zero community, residents in at least four of the 16 districts received notices that they will no longer be able to leave their homes or receive deliveries.
In Beijing, authorities have ordered residents of the city's worst-hit districts to work from home while several roads, public transport routes and parks were shut down.
Some residents with suspected infections are forced to give up the keys to their homes and enter a centralized facility, which has caused increased discontent among residents.
547. The total number of deaths that the city of Shanghai has reported since the beginning of the current outbreak in March. The deaths reported in the city's ongoing outbreak now account for more than 10% of all Covid-19 deaths that China has reported. Beijing has yet to report any deaths from the current outbreak.
The Chinese economy has been affected by the financial hub being locked down, with the country reporting a decline in export growth in April. In April, exports rose 3.7% year over year to $273.6 billion, but that was a decline from the 15.7% growth reported a month before that. Weakened demand meant that import growth was down from the previous month.
Despite a six-week-long lock down that has affected millions of people, Shanghai has not been able to completely stamp out the spread of the virus. There have been no new cases in the city for the last 10 days, but last week new cases popped up outside of the sealed-off areas. Beijing has tried to fight the virus by carrying out three rounds of mass testing on itsPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikirs. The outbreak in the two cities has been caused by the highly infectious BA.2 Omicron variant of the coronaviruses. This has raised questions about the viability of China's approach.
Live updates on the coronaviruses.
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