Photos posted on Chinese social media also showed health workers testing residents while wearing coveralls in the heat wave. Other images showed tests taking place while fires raged in the background, prompting descriptions of the situation as “apocalyptic”. The city of more than 31 million people reported eight new confirmed cases of Covid on Friday. Authorities said that as of midnight Thursday, Chongqing had 105 cases. Chongqing’s latest efforts to contain a new Covid outbreak have come as the city has been engulfed in a prolonged heat wave, wildfires and severe drought that has led to power outages. More than 70 days of extreme temperatures and low rainfall have wreaked havoc along the Yangtze River basin, which supports more than 450 million people and a third of the country’s crops. On Tuesday, some Chinese government agencies issued an urgent joint emergency alert, warning that the autumn harvest was under “serious threat”. The government also urged local authorities to ensure that “every unit of water … is used carefully”. Chongqing’s insistence on achieving zero Covid amid the heatwave has sparked complaints on social media. On Thursday, many Chongqing residents reported receiving an unexpected yellow health code, which meant they had to undergo tests for Covid when it was hot. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “I was locked up at home for a week, every day the Covid results were negative and yesterday everyone had a pop-up and people in the whole city were getting nucleic acid tests. Today me [suddenly] had a yellow health code at noon,” complained one user on the social media platform Weibo. A yellow health code means the user needs to be tested again for Covid even if they have not been in a high risk area in the last few days. The sudden demand led many to question whether the health management system was fit for purpose. “I really think you’re messing with the code. Do you have any brains?’ asked the Weibo user, adding that this would mean he would not be able to go out to buy food. “My nucleic acid test results have been negative every day… There is no reason for this [sudden test requirement]. You give yellow codes to everyone around the area. Then no one can eat, and we must starve to death. Is that what you want to see?’ Additional reporting by Xiaoqian Zhu and Reuters
