BEIJING: As authorities continue to enforce their zero-Covid policy, China on Saturday announced the greatest number of coronavirus cases since May, placing millions of people under lockdown this weekend.
China is the final large economy still pursuing the goal of eliminating epidemics, despite the strategy’s severe economic costs, including sudden lockdowns, protracted quarantines, and mass testing. On Saturday, China recorded 450 local infections, an increase from 432 the day before.
Most instances lacked any symptoms. This week, further limitations were imposed in various areas of the nation due to the increasing number of cases.A county in Anhui province went under lockdown starting on Friday, and Lanzhou, the capital of northwest Gansu province, ordered its 4.4 million citizens to stay inside starting on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Beihai in the southern Guangxi region also declared lockdowns in portions of two districts with a combined population of more than 800,000.ccording to a government notification announcing the limitations, “the epidemic prevention situation in Beihai city is now severe and complex, and the danger of hidden propagation in the population is relatively significant.”
The central Henan province steelmaking powerhouse of Wugang issued a three-day lockdown earlier in the week due to a single Covid incidence.
As they work to lessen the economic harm brought on by Covid limitations, Chinese authorities have faced a significant obstacle from the rapidly spreading Omicron version of the virus.
With GDP growing just 0.4% on-year, China saw its weakest second-quarter growth rate since the initial Covid outbreak.
