China saw nearly 30 million people confined on Tuesday as a result of the biggest coronavirus outbreak in two years, prompting authorities to carry out mass testing on a scale not seen since the start of the pandemic, local sources said.
A) Yes, the country reported 5,280 cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hoursthe highest figure since the first wave of the pandemic in early 2020, according to data from the National Health Commission (CNS).
Faced with this scenario, at least 13 Chinese cities face full lockdowns and several others have partial closures, the AFP news agency reported.
In total, the country recorded around 120,000 Covid cases and 4,636 deaths. The last fatality from the disease officially dates back to early 2021.
While, the numbers are small when compared to other countriesbut low China’s “zero covid” strategy even the smallest outbreak is met with severe measures.
In this way, the country managed to contain infections after the first wave was born in late 2019 in the city of Wuhan, but recently faced multiple outbreaks linked to the arrival of the Omicron variant.
Regarding this situation, the northeastern province of Jilin was the hardest hitwith more than 3,000 cases this Tuesday, according to the CNS.
While the provincial capital of changchumwith 9 million inhabitants, as well as other cities, They remain under stay-at-home orders.
The technological metropolis of Shenzhen (south), with 17 million inhabitants, located at the gates of Hong Kong, was also confined.
These measures caused the closure of numerous factories in the city, including that of the Taiwanese giant Foxconn, the main supplier of Apple.
What’s more, dozens of internal flights from Beijing and Shanghai airports were canceledaccording to air traffic control data.
“The recent Covid outbreak and new restrictions, in particular the lockdown in Shenzhen, will weigh on consumption and cause short-term supply disruptions,” said analyst Tommy Wu of Oxford Economics.
And he added that, with this, it will be a “challenge” for China to reach its official goal of economic growth of 5.5 percent for this year.
