Chinese city of Shenzhen locks down border areas near Hong Kong and starts blanket searches in effort to halt Covid-19
- The city authorities have pledged to crack down on illegal border crossings and step up controls after positive cases were found among Hongkongers
- Residents in areas such as Shatou and Shuiwei have been ordered to stay at home and been subjected to regular tests and checks in effort to stop spread
A resident surnamed Liu from the Shatou residential area in Futian district, the heart of Shenzhen, said he had been locked down at home since February 22 after a positive case in his area.
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The entire area is locked down with food and other living necessities delivered by community staff and residents are only allowed to leave to collect deliveries or take daily nucleic tests, Liu said. He believes that up to 50,000 people have been affected by the measures.
Control measures appear to have been tightened in recent days with community staff visiting residents door-to-door every day to check on how many people are inside, making sure the numbers stay the same. Starting on Tuesday, staff also came to his door to conduct tests.
“The outbreak is raging [here],” he said. “It feels a bit scary.”
According to Caixin Media, a respected business media outlet, residents in Shuiwei, a community about 5km from Shatou, said staff have been checking on homes, with some even looking under beds and in cupboards.
The Shatou and Shuiwei communities are close to the Huanggang checkpoint on the Shenzhen-Hong Kong border and it has traditionally been an area that hosts a lot of travellers between the two cities.