Overseas-Bound Students Struggle to Leave Locked-Down Chengdu

Ding Wei, a resident of the locked-down Chinese city of Chengdu planned to study in the U.K. this fall, but was told on Thursday she couldn’t leave home to finish the “non-essential” procedures required to study abroad. Her nearly week-long effort to get approval to leave her residential community and head overseas had been in vain.

No Covid cases had been reported for at least seven days in Ding’s neighborhood. Ding told Caixin she had been forced to reschedule her appointment at a visa center for 10 days later, although she didn’t know if she would be allowed to go out by then.