China records 65 local Covid-19 cases as people flee testing in Chengdu
- More than a dozen filmed scaling fences and escaping through bushes to avoid mandatory testing in Sichuan capital
- Video of Gansu residents queuing in snow for outdoor coronavirus tests sparks further debate about country’s ‘zero Covid’ policy
According to the National Health Commission, the present wave of cases had reached 44 cities in 20 provinces, with most concentrated in the northern regions of Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia and Gansu. Four of those provinces had not recorded any new local transmissions in a week.
The country also recorded 46 new asymptomatic cases and 24 imported infections, while the number of severe cases dropped to 28 from 35 a week ago.
But in the southwestern city of Chengdu, at least a dozen people were filmed escaping mandatory Covid-19 testing, and an investigation was under way.
01:04
Panic buying after China’s Covid-19 cases continue to surge
Global Centre in the Sichuan provincial capital was sealed off for mandatory testing after a suspected infected person was found to have visited it. However, more than a dozen people scaled fences and trekked through bushes to avoid the testing and potential further restrictions, a video report by Beijing Radio and Television Station said.
“We’re still verifying, and haven’t arrested anyone yet,” a police officer told the station.
