Chinese metropolis Chengdu extends Covid-19 lockdown

The south-western Chinese metropolis of Chengdu has extended its Covid-19 lockdown until Wednesday at the very least.

Authorities told the city of 21 million people that further mass testing would be necessary in order to bring the outbreak under control.

A four-day lockdown had been called last week and was meant to expire on Sunday.

Chengdu was also struck by a magnitude-6.8 earthquake on Monday, which caused death and destruction in nearby towns.

Residents are concerned that the lockdown may drag on beyond that; in April, China's most important economic hub, Shanghai, was initially ordered to go into lockdown for several days, but ended up spending two months in a state of heavy restrictions.

Multiple Chinese cities were ordered back into lockdown in recent weeks. Currently, around 33 cities adding up to 65 million residents are under lockdown or other Covid-19 restrictions, the Chinese magazine Caixin reported on Weibo on Sunday.

China's economy has been suffering under Beijing's zero-Covid approach, which demands that any outbreaks of the virus are clamped down on immediately.