© Photo by CNS / AFP / China OUTThis photo taken on September 1, 2022 shows police officers checking information on a road amid restrictions due to an outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Chengdu, in China’s southwestern Sichuan province.
Supermarket shelves were stripped bare this week as locals in the city — a powerhouse economic hub in China's southwest that is home to 21 million people — feared a repeat of the months-long lockdown in the eastern megalopolis of Shanghai earlier this year.
Long lines of residents queued for mandatory testing, while videos verified by AFP showed supermarket shelves cleared of produce.
One local, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP he believed "everyone was crazily stocking up for goods" because of the experience of Shanghai, which was hit by food shortages during its lockdown.
The 25-year-old said he had been in the eastern city during its shutdown and had since been "habitually stocking up" before Chengdu's latest measures were announced.
Under the rules, in force until Sunday, each household will be allowed to send one person out to buy groceries and essential goods per day, provided they have tested negative for Covid-19 in the previous 24 hours, an official notice said.
It added that all residents would be tested for the virus, urging them not to leave the city unless "absolutely necessary".
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