Reuters, Afp and Dpa
Newspaper La Jornada
Monday, July 4, 2022, p. 16
Beijing. Cities in eastern China yesterday reinforced covid-19 restriction measures in the face of the appearance of sources of contagion, which poses a new threat to economic recovery under the strict government policy of zero coronavirus.
Wuxi, a manufacturing center located in the Yangtze Delta on the central coast, suspended operations in many public places located underground, such as shops and supermarkets. Food services in restaurants were stopped and the government advised people to work from home.
City authorities urged residents not to leave Wuxi unless necessary, after reporting 42 new asymptomatic cases on Saturday.
China continues to try to crack down on new infections as part of the strict approach taken in the country, where the coronavirus was first detected in late 2019. But lockdowns and other measures have taken a heavy toll on the world’s second-largest economy. biggest of the world.
Si county in Anhui province locked down its 760,000 residents and suspended public traffic as it reported 288 cases on Saturday. Anhui accounted for the bulk of China’s new infections, with 61 symptomatic and 231 asymptomatic cases on the same day.
Mainland China recorded 473 new cases, of which 104 were symptomatic and 369 asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said yesterday. This figure compares with the 268 new cases registered a day earlier, 72 symptomatic and 196 asymptomatic, which China counts separately.
Yiwu, China’s small commodity export capital, has canceled flights to Beijing for an unspecified period, state television reported.
Shanghai, China’s most populous city and financial hub, reported a positive case outside the city’s quarantine zones from midnight to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The city lifted the confinement on Friday after a two-month stoppage that affected production and consumer spending.
There were no new deaths, leaving the country’s death toll at 5,226 as of Saturday.
Meanwhile, Steven Ho, a Hong Kong lawmaker who posed for a group photo with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the president’s visit to the island this week, reported that he had tested positive for COVID.
Ho, a 42-year-old member of Hong Kong’s main pro-Beijing party, was one of about 100 officials granted close contact with Xi for a group photo on Thursday. In the photo Ho was located two rows just behind Xi.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was optimistic about the possibility that the country will require less severe measures this year to deal with the foreseeable increase in coronavirus cases during the autumn and winter months.
The pandemic has so far left 549 million 48 thousand 406 confirmed cases and 6 million 338 thousand 850 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
