Published on: 24.11.2022 – 04:05
China on Wednesday listed 31,444 Covid-19 cases, a new record as authorities scramble to stem the spread of the virus through mass testing, travel restrictions and Zhengzhou-like lockdowns. A strategy that causes tiredness and displeasure among the population.
The daily number of Covid-19 cases has hit a new record in China, authorities announced on Thursday (November 24), tightening strict lockdown, mass testing and travel restrictions at the risk of depleting the population, including the growl of rage.
China on Wednesday listed 31,444 new local cases, of which 27,517 are asymptomatic, the health ministry said. These new figures are higher than the 29,317 local infections recorded in mid-April when Shanghai – the world’s third most populous city – was under lockdown and its residents struggled to buy food and access medical supplies.
Those numbers seem relatively low given China’s huge population of more than 1.4 billion and the records seen in western countries at the height of the pandemic.
Zhengzhou imprisoned
But under the strict “zero Covid” policy Beijing relentlessly applies, the slightest increase in cases will result in the closure of entire cities and confinement of contacts of infected patients in strict quarantine.
Zhengzhou, a city in central China that is home to a massive iPhone factory, has rightly ordered several districts to be locked down. City center residents will no longer be allowed to leave the area without a negative Covid test and permission from local authorities, and will be advised to leave their homes “unless necessary”, city authorities have announced.
These restrictions, which will last five days from midnight Friday, will affect more than 6 million people, or about half the city’s population. The authorities’ notice, released late Wednesday, also requires all residents of eight counties to undergo a daily PCR test during the five-day period.
This unyielding strategy is fueling broad layers of fatigue and resentment as the pandemic identified in China in late 2019 nears its third year. China is the only major economy in the world to continue to impose such restrictions, prompting sporadic protests.
The order announced by the city of Zhengzhou comes after violent protests at the city’s sprawling iPhone factory complex earlier this week. The Taiwanese company Foxconn also apologized for the wages in its factory on Thursday. “Our team has reviewed the matter and determined that a technical error has occurred,” the statement said. “We apologize for an error in the computer system and guarantee that the actual compensation will be as agreed,” the group added.
Several major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing have also tightened restrictions on positive cases. The Guangzhou manufacturing hub in the south of the country, where nearly a third of Covid cases were detected, has built thousands of makeshift hospital rooms to house patients.
“Slow, expensive and bumpy”
Beijing, which has been experiencing an epidemic outbreak in recent days, dozens of apartment buildings have been locked down and businesses are generalizing teleworking.
The capital requires a 48-hour negative PCR test result to enter public places such as shopping malls, hotels and government buildings, the city government said.
Schools, restaurants and shops closed again, fear of quarantine: A large proportion of Beijing residents are now mentally exhausted by these often vague and changing restrictions, the duration of which is never announced in advance.
The capital on Wednesday announced almost 1,500 new positive cases (the vast majority asymptomatic) for 22 million residents, a level that remains very low according to international criteria.
The Chinese authorities’ response appears disproportionate to that of many other countries around the world that have learned to live with the virus. But China has yet to approve the public use of more effective mRNA vaccines, and only 85% of adults over 60 had received two doses of the national vaccine by mid-August, according to Chinese health officials.
And Shijiazhuang, a municipality neighboring Beijing that has been seen as a pilot city to test reopening strategies, reversed most of its lockdown measures this week.
“The road to reopening could be slow, costly and bumpy,” said Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura, in a note. “Full shutdowns like in Shanghai could be avoided, but they could be replaced by more frequent partial shutdowns in an increasing number of cities due to rising Covid case numbers.”
With AFP