Residents in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu have been pictured panic buying in markets and supermarkets. A citywide lockdown has been imposed; all residents should, in principle, stay at home.
Pictures circulated online of people scrambling to buy essentials, as well as car trunks stocked with food and other items.
Manya Koetse – editor-in-chief of China-focused news site What’s on Weibo – posted the pictures below to her Twitter account.
Images via Twitter/@manyapan
And, other pictures which trended on Weibo:
Image via Weibo/@iBingo
Image via Weibo/@成都自由行
The panic buying prompted a response from authorities.
A piece published in People’s Daily stated that panic buying was “not science-based, irrational and not worth doing.”
The Weibo hashtag “Chengdu calls on city residents not to panic buy” (#成都呼吁市民不必抢购囤积#) has been viewed over 380 million times, as of press time.
Chengdu entered a citywide lockdown, as of 6pm yesterday, September 1. All residents should, in principle, stay at home.
One member per household is permitted to leave once per day to buy essential goods, provided they have proof of a negative nucleic acid test issued within 24 hours.
Three rounds of mass testing are taking place until September 4.
Between August 25 and August 31, Chengdu recorded a total of 766 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Authorities say the outbreak can be traced to around 20 different chains of infection.
The city has 198 high-risk areas and 193 mid-risk, as of press time.
[Cover image via Weibo/@早报网]
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