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Beijing lockdown: Can China’s proud capital avoid a COVID shutdown?

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It was late Sunday night when I got a three-word text from a Chinese friend: “Buy more food!”

News spread that authorities seeking to contain a cluster of COVID-19 cases had sealed off several compounds and ordered mass testing in the district of 3.5 million people where I now live, and panic buying was in full swing. By the time I got to the local supermarket, all the carts were taken by frenzied customers and many vegetables were sold out.

Why We Wrote This

After escaping Shanghai, the Monitor’s Beijing bureau chief is caught in yet another massive reaction to a COVID-19 outbreak. As case numbers grow, can the civic-minded capital tolerate a total lockdown?

The day before, I’d enjoyed my first taste of relative freedom in China since arriving in Shanghai in mid-March. Now, I had a sinking sense of déjà vu. After witnessing scenes of lockdown hardship in Shanghai, I had to wonder, could Beijing be next?

Many residents say no.

Even as Beijing’s cases reach an all-time pandemic high, Beijingers say the city’s special status and extra-stringent COVID-19 policy make a Shanghai-scale outbreak impossible. Indeed, food supplies were fully restored by midweek, as Beijing authorities increased shipments of fresh produce to quell residents’ worries and, possibly, to save face.

“It’s the capital, so it has to be stable politically,” says Julia Wang, a Beijing university teacher, adding that Beijing’s culture of civic-mindedness is also an asset. “People in Beijing can sacrifice,” she says. 

Beijing

Panic buying was in full swing at my local supermarket in Beijing’s central Chaoyang District – all the carts were taken and many vegetables were sold out. Store clerks in green vests were snapping photos of frenzied customers, overloaded with bags of cabbage, eggs, and meat. 

“Everyone is scared!” said one shopper. “Prices are going up!” exclaimed another.

It was late Sunday night, and I had rushed to the store after getting a three-word text from a Chinese friend: “Buy more food!” News spread that authorities seeking to contain a cluster of COVID-19 cases had sealed off several compounds and ordered mass testing in the district of 3.5 million people where I now live.

Why We Wrote This

After escaping Shanghai, the Monitor’s Beijing bureau chief is caught in yet another massive reaction to a COVID-19 outbreak. As case numbers grow, can the civic-minded capital tolerate a total lockdown?

My mind was reeling. Just the day before I’d enjoyed my first taste of relative freedom in China following five weeks of quarantine since arriving in Shanghai in mid-March. Strolling down a street lined with blossoming plum trees, squinting in the sun, I felt a huge relief soaking in the city on my way to the Monitor’s Beijing bureau.

But now, as the fleeting respite gave way to urgent stockpiling, I had a sinking sense of déjà vu. After witnessing heartbreaking scenes of lockdown hardship in Shanghai, China’s glittering financial capital, I had to wonder, could Beijing, the political capital, be next?

Ann Scott Tyson/The Christian Science Monitor

Beijing residents crowd a supermarket on April 24, 2022, in Beijing’s Chaoyang District. A COVID-19 outbreak in the capital’s largest district has pushed average weekly cases in Beijing to the highest levels since the beginning of the pandemic.

“Trust Beijing”

The next morning, I awoke to the familiar sound of a bullhorn, as workers in white hazmat suits summoned all residents in my compound for mandatory COVID-19 testing. 

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