Beijing Covid spike prompts mass testing, panic buying

A shopper leaves a supermarket with provisions as others wait in line to buy food supplies in Beijing on April 25, 2022. - AFP

BEIJING (AFP): Fears of a hard Covid lockdown sparked panic buying in Beijing as long queues formed on Monday (April 25) in a large central district for mass testing ordered by the Chinese authorities.

China was already trying to contain a wave of infections in its largest city Shanghai, which has been almost entirely locked down for weeks and reported 51 new Covid deaths on Monday.