Roxanne Liu and Ryan Woo

BEIJING, (Reuters) -China’s COVID-affected capital Beijing has increased its surveillance of the virus. The target is to make zero community transmission the goal. This includes penalizing workplaces for flouting rules and circumventing curbs as well as urging residents to monitor their movements.

In the 22-million population, there have been dozens of new cases every day since late April. Although most of these cases were found in quarantine zones, there have been a few in the wider community. These are symptomatic of Omicron’s transmissibility and challenges to pandemic containment measures.

The government continues to focus on zero-COVID despite its damage to China’s 2nd-largest economy and global supply chain.

The city increased quarantine measures and slowed down workplace attendance this week. More districts are now issuing guidance or requirements for work-from home. This was in response to Vice Premier Sun Chunlan’s inspection on Monday, during which she demanded more rigorous measures to cut transmission chains.

A few workplaces ignored COVID prevention strategies, the state-run Xinhua News agency stated in a comment. They also failed to verify the health profiles and work histories of staff members, allowing for an open door for spreading the disease.

The commentary that was published Wednesday said, “A strong wind can pass through even the smallest of cracks.”

Some employees of the Beijing state-run Beijing post service received a warning or were dismissed after a series of cases that had been brought against private logistics companies within their jurisdiction. This was one instance of discipline, according to the municipality anti-corruption watchdog. According to regulators, the firm did not conduct COVID screenings for its workers and failed strict vaccination regulations.

Another example was when a few employees at Beijing’s state railway company hid their travel history and were subject to police investigation.

Some operations of a large Beijing real estate agency have been suspended due to one employee violating a district-wide requirement that he work remotely, according to the housing development authority.

Do not travel.

Beijing’s health officials have been texting people throughout the week to remind them to check the travel records of COVID patients and notify local authorities if they are able to see their movements.

Shi from Beijing, who was recently released from lockdown in her residential building, stated that she had tried to stay close to her house, as she worried about accidentally entering areas with cases. This could have tainted her COVID records, which she kept on an app.

She said, “I basically walk around the areas surrounding my residence compounds and go to the grocery store, but I don’t dare travel too far.”

There were several other cities in the country that launched new rounds for mass testing, even though international comparators show caseloads are still very low.

After more than 12 new infections per day emerged last week, Tianjin, a northern port city, began a third round of citywide testing Wednesday. Tianjin’s 14 million citizens are required to remain close to home and observe a static mode of movement during the testing.

Xian in the northwestern province of China launched a routine mass-testing campaign, previously scheduled for Wednesday to Friday. The city of 13,000,000 raced to decrease transmission risks following five local infections found within the past 10 days.

Shanghai has been aiming to complete its June 1 city-wide exit from the stringent lockdown. It slowly and carefully unwinds COVID curbs, allowing more than 25 million people to escape. The vast majority of businesses, shops and restaurants remain closed and there is still a work-from home regime.

The highly-anticipated exit will be reopened after nearly two months in lockdown.

The world’s biggest container port in Shanghai saw its exports drop 44% from last year, while imports dropped by a third. This was the sharpest fall since 2011, according to the local statistical bureau.