Coronavirus lockdown: what can Hong Kong learn from China’s cities?

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As Hong Kong contemplates a mass lockdown to contain a runaway increase in coronavirus infections, there is at least a precedent the city can look to to keep daily necessities flowing to people under stay-at-home orders.

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, 11 million people in the central Chinese city of Wuhan spent an unprecedented 76 days in lockdown, with public transport shut down, residential buildings sealed off and residents barred from leaving home. In spite of the extreme measures, people had access to essentials.