Residents of Chengdu panic buying in a store. Photo / Twitter
Residents of Chengdu panic buying in a store. Photo / Twitter
Photos show residents of Chengdu in complete panic as the major city is thrown into lockdown due to 157 Covid-19 cases.
Photos shared to social media show the southwestern Sichuan province capital in total disarray, as locals scramble to purchase household goods with the lockdown under way.
Videos have emerged of Chengdu citizens swarming stores, stripping shelves, packing trolleys and bulk buying items including vegetables and meat, as residents brace for the worst.
It's the latest city in China ordered into lockdown after strict restrictions were imposed on Dalian and Shijiazhuang.
The city of Chengdu is panic buying. Photo / Twitter
21 million people have been told to not leave their homes, as the Chinese Government under President Xi Jinping, continues working towards its "zero-Covid" commitment which is set to continue into 2023.
The lockdown was provoked by a spike in Covid cases (157 new cases reported with 51 displaying no symptoms) last month, with Chengdu now recording over 1000 cases and no deaths.
"The current state of epidemic control is abnormal, complex and grim," the announcement said, adding that the measures aimed to "decisively arrest the spread of the outbreak and guarantee the health of all citizens."
The latest lockdown rules state only one family member may leave the home each day to buy essential items, however, they must show a negative test result, making them a low contagion risk, in order to do so.
To leave home, enter grocery stores, and malls, travel on public transport and purchase medicine, residents must also display a green health status result on their Alipay Health Code app.
The district government said it had ordered entertainment venues including bars, cinemas and karaoke clubs to close.
The population of Chengdu likely remembers all too well the nature of the two-month lockdown in Shanghai which further spurred panic buying.
One local, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP he believed "everyone was crazily stocking up for goods" because of the experience of Shanghai, which was hit by food shortages during its lockdown.
Chengdu will undertake four days of mass testing. Photo / Twitter
The 25-year-old said he had been in the eastern city during its shutdown and had since been "habitually stocking up" before Chengdu's latest measures were announced.
At this stage, the lockdown has no end date and is set to cause a major economic fallout, particularly for the manufacturing and technology sectors.
Chengdu is currently undertaking four days of mandatory citywide testing with pictures showing long lines of residents queued for their swabs.
The active and frequent transmission of the virus in Chengdu has reportedly occurred as a result of indoor entertainment venues, visited by locals attempting to escape the extreme heatwave.
Locals are scrambling to purchase household goods and food with the lockdown underway. Photo / Twitter
Children in at least 10 cities and provinces are facing disruptions to China's new academic year as pandemic controls force schools to switch to measures like online learning, according to a news report in state-affiliated media.
Xining, the capital of western Qinghai province and home to 2.5 million people, has ordered schools to conduct lessons online, rolled out a mass testing drive and told residents in its main urban area to work from home for three days.
The mood appeared calmer on social media, with some residents saying they were able to order food to be delivered to their apartment gates and to go out to buy groceries.
Others said they had resorted to sleeping at their offices in order not to miss work.
Authorities had initially sought to quash talk of a looming lockdown, with police saying they had detained a man for "creating panic" after he warned that the city could shut down.
His case drew online attention, with many on the Twitter-like Weibo platform questioning his punishment and calling him a "hero" for warning his fellow citizens.
The "zero-Covid" policy has been implemented as scientists work to develop a vaccine to eliminate the risk of transmission of the virus, or for another variant to emerge.
China has stuck to the zero-tolerance virus strategy despite disruptions from the fast-spreading Omicron strain and concern that the approach is stifling its post-pandemic economic recovery.
Last month, travellers in the southern island province of Hainan protested after more than 80,000 tourists were stranded in a resort city because of a Covid-19 flare-up.
Social media videos from the eastern megacity of Shanghai showed panicked crowds fleeing an Ikea store and another building as officials tried to impose local lockdowns in response to two suspected cases.
