Nearly 30 million people were confined in China on Tuesday (15), after the country recorded the biggest outbreak of covid-19 in two years: authorities ordered tests on a scale that had not been observed since the beginning of the pandemic.
The country recorded 5,280 cases of covid-19 in the last 24 hours, the highest number since the first wave of the pandemic in early 2020, according to data from the National Health Commission (CNS).
At least 13 cities face total lockdowns and several have adopted partial closures.
With draconian restrictions, the country managed to contain infections after the first wave of the disease at the end of 2019 in the city of Wuhan, but it has recently faced several outbreaks linked to the omicron variant.
This Tuesday is the sixth consecutive day that the balance of daily cases exceeds a thousand infections.
The numbers are small compared to other countries, but within the Chinese “covid zero” strategy, even the smallest focus is faced with severe measures.
Jilin province (northeast of the country) was the most affected, with more than 3,000 cases on Tuesday, according to the CNS. The provincial capital Changchum, with a population of nine million, as well as other cities, are in total lockdown.
– Economic impact –
The governor of Jilin promised to do everything possible to “reach community zero covid in a week”, state media reported.
The technological metropolis of Shenzhen (south), with 17 million inhabitants and close to Hong Kong, is also confined.
The measures caused the closure of several factories in the city, including the Taiwanese giant Foxconn, Apple’s main supplier.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange fell 6.20% on Tuesday, while Shanghai closed down 4.95%.
Dozens of domestic flights from Beijing and Shanghai airports have been cancelled.
“The recent outbreak of covid and the new restrictions, in particular the confinement in Shenzhen, will weigh on consumption and cause short-term supply disruptions,” Tommy Wu of Oxford Economics said in a statement.
He added that with this, it will be a “challenge” for China to reach the official economic growth target of 5.5% for this year.
Chinese doctor Zhang Wenhong mentioned the possibility of easing the “covid zero” strategy in the face of the omicron variant, but admitted that in the short term it would be impossible to ease large-scale tests and confinements.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, China has recorded almost 120,000 cases of covid and 4,636 deaths. The last fatal victim of the disease was officially recorded in early 2021.
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