Beijing and Shanghai impose new controls on residents as China battles to contain coronavirus
- Capital and financial centre, with combined population of over 44 million, join dozens of other cities in partial lockdown in bid to curtail spread of virus
- Mask-wearing in public made compulsory and curbs on movement of people and vehicles introduced in Beijing
China’s two biggest cities have announced fresh restrictions on residential communities to prevent the spread of the deadly new coronavirus, joining dozens of mainland cities that have gone into partial lockdown since the epidemic began last month.
Measures unveiled by the authorities in Beijing and Shanghai on Monday include stricter controls on the movement of residents and vehicles, compulsory mask-wearing and shutting down leisure and other non-essential community services.
The lockdown-style measures appear to be aimed at controlling possible community transmission of the virus as the country returns to work at the end of an extended Lunar New Year holiday.
Last week, megacities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Hangzhou and Chengdu announced similar restrictions. In addition to Hubei, authorities in Liaoning and Jiangxi provinces have also imposed provincewide measures.
Partial lockdown measures are already in place in more than 80 cities in nearly 20 provinces and municipalities since the central government imposed a lockdown in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, and its neighbouring cities on January 23.