Beijing closes some public spaces and steps up checks at others, as most of the city's 22 million residents embark on more COVID mass testing aimed at averting a Shanghai-like lockdown
As Beijing rolled out three rounds of mass testing this week across a number of districts, it locked down a number of residential compounds, office blocks and a university after infections were found. Some schools, entertainment venues and tourist sites were also shut.
On Wednesday, people in hazmat suits visited his home in Dongcheng district to test Ward for COVID after officials said he was a close contact of a positive case. Pinggu, a district in the northeast of Beijing, also said it will test its population of 457,000 on Thursday and Saturday. So far, Beijing has largely allowed residents to go to work even as they get tested, unless infections are found and localised lockdowns are required.