Baskadia

Sept. 9, 2022

revised at 10:10 a.m. ET

Ten million citizens of Chongqing, a city in southwest China, stood in the heat to receive Covid testing while fire raged in the foothills surrounding the city. That day in August, there were two cases found.

Before testing their catch of fish and crab a week ago in Xiamen, in the southeast of the country, epidemic workers swabbed the throats of fishermen. At an auto show last week in Chengdu, in the southwest, cars were also swabbed.

When a powerful earthquake hit Chengdu on Monday, many residents' initial reaction wasn't to flee for safety but to request permission to leave their homes while they were under lockdown. "Avoid going downstairs! @all," a property manager sternly admonished in a discussion room. When Luding