The Chinese capital Beijing, faced with an upsurge in COVID-19 contamination, continued to close businesses and residential complexes, the authorities engaging in a race against time to detect infections and isolate contact cases. At a press conference on Friday, Chinese health authorities did not respond to questions about a possible lockdown in Beijing or the circumstances that might lead to such measures. Chaoyang District, the city’s district with the highest number of cases, began a third and final round of mass screening of its 3.5 million residents on Friday. The majority of the city’s other neighborhoods are due to begin their third round of screening on Saturday. New buildings were confined, while spas, KTV lounges, gymnasiums, cinemas, libraries and at least two shopping centers had to close on Friday. Chinese authorities say getting rid of COVID-19 is vital to saving as many lives as possible. “We have to realize that the virus is what is hurting the economy,” said Liang Wannian, head of the National Health Commission’s COVID response expert group. Read also: Covid-19: in Beijing, massive screening and closed public places “The battle against the COVID epidemic is a war, a war of resistance, a people’s war”, he added. Beijing reported 49 cases on April 28, down from 50 the previous day, a far cry from Shanghai’s numbers. Lockdown eases in Shanghai In Shanghai, after a month-long lockdown, authorities said on Friday that more people had been given permission to leave their homes in recent days. More than 12 million people, almost half of the population, now fall into this category. However, a large number of them cannot leave their accommodation and are asked by one of the 52,000 police officers mobilized for confinement to return home. There are few places to go for those who can, with shops and other public places closed. Many residents have complained about the rigidity of the police, which sometimes does not take into account health emergencies or other individual circumstances.