Students in schools across several Beijing districts buckled down for online classes on Monday after officials called for residents in some of its hardest-hit areas to stay home, as Covid-19 cases in China’s capital and nationally ticked higher.
China is fighting numerous Covid-19 flare-ups, from Zhengzhou in central Henan province to Chongqing in the southwest and for Sunday reported 26,824 new local cases, nearing the country’s pandemic peak in April. It also recorded two deaths in Beijing, up from one on Saturday, which was China’s first since late May.
Guangzhou, a southern city of nearly 19 million people that is battling the largest of China’s recent outbreaks, ordered a five-day lockdown for its Baiyun district, its most populous. It also suspended dine-in services and shut night clubs and theatres in Tianhe, home to the city’s main business district.
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The latest wave is testing China’s resolve to stick to adjustments it has made to its zero-Covid policy, which calls for cities to be more targeted in their clampdown measures and steer away from catch-all lockdowns and testing that have strangled the economy and frustrated residents.