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Panic in Beijing as China’s Covid easing catches city off guard
- Residents scramble for medication in short supply and form long lines at fever clinics
- The virus does the rounds of work and home but official numbers no longer an accurate reflection of its spread
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Zhuang Pinghuiin Beijing
Beijing resident Mei Yahong panicked on Thursday morning after she started burning up with a fever but had no medicine at home.
Online pharmaceutical sites were all either “waiting for stock” or would take at least three days to deliver an order. Mei’s neighbourhood pharmacies were also out of supplies.
“They said new stock would come but they weren’t sure when. I panicked because I also have a toddler at home. What if she was infected by me and developed a fever, too?”
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After a desperate plea on a WeChat group, a neighbour gave Mei some Ibuprofen tablets and half a bottle of liquid fever medication for children.
Like Mei, many in Beijing were caught off guard when the State Council suddenly announced on Wednesday that people infected with Covid-19 and their close contacts could stay at home.
04:41
Excitement and anxiety as China starts to reopen after zero-Covid
Excitement and anxiety as China starts to reopen after zero-Covid
The announcement was part of an easing in the country’s stringent Covid-19 control measures to reduce economic and social disruption.
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