Chengdu 31 August : The authorities in the southwest Chinese city of Chengdu have placed limits on the city in attempt to reduce the increase in new Covid-19 infections after residents complained of the lack of food and panic buying according to media reports.The 21 million inhabitants of Sichuan’s capital city was ordered to undergo massive PCR tests, as local schools and entertainment venues were closed in new regulations, RFA reported.
All over the city, anyone who wants to gain access to any public space, including public transportation must show an green “health code” on the Chinese tracker app for the government that indicates a negative PCR test that was conducted within the last 48 hours, according to the report.
Additional restrictions and lockdowns with specifics have also been made public in Chengdu’s Jinjiang, Gaoxin, Wuhou, Chenghua, Qingyang and Jinniu districts as well as the Chengdu Motor Show was “suspended” according to media reports claimed.
A Chengdu resident who only gave the surname Wu said that traffic restrictions have led to lesser and less food available for sale in supermarkets and stores which triggered panic-buying in certain regions.
“There are a few people in the streets and there are no vendor selling vegetables in the mornings.
There aren’t any vegetables left in the grocery stores.I was able to find some eggs,” Wu said.
“Some of my friends are stockpiling food items in their homes.The city officials are telling people to buy more,” she added, RFA reported.
Photos of one store in Chengdu shared on Weibo, a social media platform.Weibo displayed empty shelves as well as freezers.
A video clip, made in the early morning hours of the morning of Tuesday in Chengdu was a riot of shouting and screaming from several apartment blocks in darkness.
Wu spoke of the current situation in Chengdu as “pretty serious,” with some metro stations shut down, and public transportation switching routes to avoid certain areas, RFA reported.
“They secured a lot of residential areas in the evening of yesterday.There are many of people who will be getting PCR tests which we must perform every day,” she said.
“They begin calling people on the loudspeakers around 5 a.m.to be up to do PCR tests .this is becoming more frequent in areas such as Century City, the high-tech zone, and the Jinnui district.”
.
