Fears of a hard Covid lockdown sparked panic buying in Beijing as long queues formed on Monday in a large central district for mass testing ordered by the Chinese authorities, according to AFP.
China was already trying to contain a wave of infections in its largest city Shanghai, which has been almost entirely locked down for weeks and reported 51 new Covid deaths on Monday.
Downtown Beijing’s biggest district Chaoyang, home to around 3.5 million people, ordered mass testing from Monday for residents and those coming to work there — the area hosts the headquarters of many multinational firms and embassies.
Many of the capital’s fitness studios and gyms have cancelled classes or closed. Beijing has also imposed tight controls on entry to the city, with travellers required to have a negative Covid test from within 48 hours.
On the other hand, anger mounts among locked-down Shanghai residents as city reports more Covid deaths
China’s major financial hub of Shanghai has reported more Covid-19-related deaths, as residents vented their anger over a harsh lockdown and strict censorship online.
The city, battling China’s biggest coronavirus outbreak so far, reported 12 new Covid-19 deaths, up from 11 a day before.
On social media, netizens battled against censors overnight to share a six-minute video entitled “The Voice of April”, a montage of voices recorded over the course of the Shanghai outbreak, Reuters reported.
PAKISTAN REPORTS 105 COVID CASES
Pakistan has reported 105 coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 1,527,856.
No new fatalities were reported during this period and the death toll remains 30,369. The positivity rate was recorded as 0.54 per cent while 186 patients are critical.
Breakdown of deaths and cases: Punjab: 59 cases
Sindh: 28 cases; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 11 cases; Islamabad: 5 cases
Azad Jammu and Kashmir: 2 cases
Similarly, Pakistan reports 52 Covid-19 recoveries
Pakistan has reported 52 coronavirus recoveries during the last 24 hours, according to the government’s portal for tracking the spread of the disease in the country.
The total number has risen to 1,494,050 and the recovery rate is 97.8 per cent.
COOK ISLANDS RECORDS FIRST COVID-19 DEATH
The tiny South Pacific nation of the Cook Islands has reported its first coronavirus-related death, more than two years after the pandemic erupted.
A 63-year-old woman, who had underlying health conditions, died on her way to hospital on the island of Aitutaki late on Saturday.
“It is with great sadness that I announce that we have just recorded our first in-country death attributed to Covid-19,” Prime Minister Mark Brown said in a statement Sunday. “She had had all three anti-Covid vaccinations, but also had several serious underlying health conditions.”
ONLY 29PC HOSPITALISED COVID PATIENTS FULLY WELL ONE YEAR ON: UK STUDY
Not even one in four people have completely recovered from Covid a full year after being hospitalised with the disease, a UK study indicated, warning that long Covid could become a common condition.
The study involving more than 2,300 people also found that women were 33 per cent less likely to fully recover than men, AFP reports.
It also found that obese people were half as likely to fully recover, while those who needed mechanical ventilation were 58pc less likely.
The study looked at the health of people who were discharged from 39 British hospitals with Covid between March 2020 and April 2021, then assessed the recovery of 807 of them five months and one year later.
