Tens of millions of people were Under lockdown in China on Wednesday as businesses in a major tourist city had to close their doors and new clusters raised fears of a return to general restrictions.
Health authorities today reported more than 300 infections, with clusters found in the historic northern city of Xi’an – home to the Terracotta Army – as well as the country’s largest city Shanghai and the capital Beijing.
In Shanghai and Beijing, authorities have ordered another round of mass testing, while in Xi-an residents have been placed back under “temporary containment measures.”
The new cases and the official response to them have heightened fears that China may return to the kind of strict lockdowns seen earlier this year, with tens of millions of people locked up for weeks.
The Communist Party’s hard-line zero-covid policies have not only resulted in thousands now having mental health problems, but also extended global supply chain problems.
In Shanghai, some residents took to social media on Tuesday that they had received food rations from the government — a throwback to the month’s long lockdown in the spring.
A medical worker takes a swab at a nucleic acid testing station, following a coronavirus disease outbreak in Beijing on Wednesday
“Let me tell you a scary story, Putuo district is sending vegetables again,” read one resident on a viral WeChat post.
“I’m so nervous, the epidemic has destroyed my childhood. I’m about to go crazy,” wrote another Weibo user from Shanghai.
Officials launched another round of mass testing in more than half of Shanghai’s districts following an uptick in cases since the weekend, with all karaoke bars closed on Wednesday after some infections were linked to six such locations.
Shanghai has only just come out of a strict lockdown that has tied most of its 24 million residents to their homes for weeks, and the new requirements have raised concerns about a return of such harsh measures.
Condominiums where cases are discovered remain isolated, while mass testing has been ordered in the majority of the city’s 16 districts through at least Thursday.
A negative test result obtained within the past 48 hours is required to enter residential complexes and public locations under the “two tests in three days” program.
The Shanghai lockdown sparked unusual protests, both in person and online, against the government’s tough enforcement, which has left many residents struggling to access food and medical services and sending thousands to quarantine centers.
Health workers wait Tuesday to test people for the Covid-19 coronavirus on a street next to a residential area in Shanghai’s Jing’an district
People queue for COVID-19 test in Beijing, China on Wednesday
And Xi’an – a historic city of 13 million that was shut down for a month at the end of last year – has been placed under ‘temporary control measures’ since Saturday after 29 infections were found, mostly among waste recyclers.
Public entertainment venues, including pubs, internet cafes and karaoke bars, were expected to close from midnight on Wednesday, the city council said in a statement.
State media showed images of Xi’an residents queuing for tests after midnight on Tuesday, stressing that the city was not locked.
Officials have attributed the city’s outbreak to the BA.5.2 subline of the Omicron variant, which is more transmissible and immune-evasive.
“The positive infections are all the BA.5.2 branch of the Omicron variant, and the epidemiological detection work is still in progress,” Xi’an health official Ma Chaofeng said at a briefing.
Beijing residents have also been ordered to undergo further rounds of testing for COVID-19 following the discovery of new cases in the city, while strict restrictions are in place in Hong Kong, Macau and other Chinese cities.
Beijing has seen a recent outbreak related to a nightlife spot. It has been conducting regular tests for weeks and at least one residential complex in the Shunyi suburb, which is home to many foreign residents, has been closed off with a steel gate over the entrance to prevent residents from leaving.
Enforcement in the Chinese capital has been much more lenient than in Shanghai, although officials continue to demand regular testing and preventive measures.
Macau’s gambling hub, meanwhile, has shut down the famous Grand Lisboa Hotel after cases were discovered there.
More than a dozen residential and commercial centers in China’s Special Autonomous Region of about 650,000 people have been designated “red zones,” access to which is almost exclusively restricted to emergency personnel.
A woman undergoes a COVID-19 test in Beijing, China on Wednesday after an outbreak
Authorities have ordered the closure of most establishments with the exception of casinos, Macau’s main source of income and one of the city’s largest employers.
City dwellers are to undergo three city-wide Covid-19 tests this week. The local outbreak is the largest in Macau since the start of the pandemic, with more than 900 infections since mid-June.
The strict measures have remained in place despite the relatively low number of cases and severe negative effects on the Chinese economy and global supply chains.
The World Health Organization recently called the policy untenable, a view Chinese officials flatly rejected, even though they say they hope to minimize the impact.
The new outbreaks pose a new challenge to President Xi Jinping, who last week reaffirmed his commitment to zero Covid despite rising economic costs.
Japan’s Nomura bank estimates that as of Monday, at least 114.8 million people across the country will be wholly or partially shut down, a sharp increase from last week’s 66.7 million.
China’s zero-covid approach has also resulted in staff shortages that have resulted in numerous factories closing. Those disruptions ripple through global supply chains for goods ranging from electric vehicles to iPhones.
Medical workers register people at a nucleic acid testing station, following a coronavirus disease outbreak in Beijing on Wednesday
While some factory owners are trying to work it out through closed loop management that keeps workers isolated inside, some said it’s getting harder to sustain given the magnitude of local COVID-19 restrictions targeting the Omicron variant, which complicates purchasing efforts. materials or ship products.
In April, more than 30 Taiwanese companies, many of which make electronics parts, said COVID-19 measures in eastern China had forced them to temporarily suspend production.
China’s zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19, despite the low number of cases and even as the rest of the world tries to live with the coronavirus, is proving impractical given the extreme infectivity of the less-lethal Omicron variant.
The zeal to shut down virus transmission chains means that localized curbs extend far beyond the virus hotspots of Shanghai and Jilin in the northeast.
An April 7 survey by Gavekal Dragonomics found that 87 of China’s 100 largest cities by GDP have imposed some form of quarantine restrictions.
In May, electric vehicle manufacturer Nio said it had to halt production at its Hefei plant – even though there were no curbs locally – because suppliers from other areas had halted work.
Trucking in particular has been hit hard, causing long queues and delays, and prices have risen.
The city of Xuzhou, a logistics hub, began requiring truck drivers to submit negative PCR test results within 48 hours in April to take more tests upon arrival. They can’t leave their trucks.
Some drivers have become stuck on highways after visiting areas such as Shanghai, meaning their smartphone health codes were automatically invalidated.
A health worker (R) takes a swab from a woman on Tuesday to test for the Covid-19 coronavirus on a street next to a residential area in Shanghai’s Jing’an district
Foreign business groups in particular have expressed concern, with the European Chamber of Commerce in China sending a letter to the government in April noting that about half of German companies in the country were experiencing supply chain problems. read more
China has tried to mitigate the impact of the curbs by keeping ports and airports running and encouraging closed production.
But the number of container ships waiting at Shanghai – the world’s busiest container port – and nearby Zhoushan has more than doubled to 118 since early April, nearly three times the number a year ago, data from Refinitiv shows.
In April, Iris Pang, an economist, warned that the COVID crisis in China could affect growth rates around the world.
“A problem in China could be a problem for the global economy,” she said.
More than 1,000 infections have been reported in central Anhui province since last week, with dozens of them spilling into Jiangsu province, bordering Shanghai, and threatening the main production region of the Yangtze Delta.