About 30 million people were confined to China on Tuesday in the face of the biggest outbreak of covid-19 in two years, which led authorities to conduct mass tests on a scale that had not been seen since the start of the pandemic.
The country reported 5,280 cases of covid-19 on Tuesday in the last 24 hours, the highest figure since the first wave of the pandemic in early 2020, according to data from the National Health Commission (CNS).
At least 13 Chinese cities face total lockdowns and several others have partial closures.
Through draconian restrictions, the country managed to contain infections after the first wave born in late 2019 in the city of Wuhan, but recently faced multiple outbreaks linked to the arrival of the omicron variant.
Tuesday is the sixth consecutive day that the daily case balance exceeds a thousand infections.
The figures are small compared to those of other countries, but under the Chinese strategy of “zero covid” until the minimum outbreak is faced with severe measures.
The northeastern province of Jilin was the hardest hit, with more than 3,000 cases on Tuesday, according to the CNS. The provincial capital of Changchum, with 9 million inhabitants, as well as other cities, remain under orders to stay at home.
- Economic impact -
The governor of Jilin promised to do everything possible to “reach zero community covid in a week,” the state press reported.
The technological metropolis of Shenzhen (south), with 17 million inhabitants, located at the gates of Hong Kong, was also confined.
These measures led to the closure of numerous factories in the city, including that of Taiwanese giant Foxconn, Apple's main supplier.
Shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange fell by around 3% after having sunk more than 5% on the eve.
In addition, dozens of internal flights from Beijing and Shanghai airports were canceled, according to air traffic control data.
“The recent outbreak of covid and new restrictions, in particular lockdown in Shenzhen, will weigh on consumption and cause supply disruptions in the short term,” said Tommy Wu, from Oxford Economics, in a briefing note.
He added that, in doing so, it will be a “challenge” for China to reach its official economic growth target of 5.5% by this year.
For his part, Chinese doctor Zhang Wenhong raised the possibility of softening the “zero covid” strategy in the face of the omicron variant, although he admitted that in the short term it would be impossible to alleviate mass tests and confinements.
In total, the country recorded about 120,000 cases of covid and 4,636 deaths. The last fatality of the disease officially dates back to the beginning of 2021.
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