The outbreak of coronavirus in China grows: some 30 million people are already quarantined in 13 cities

Nearly 30 million people were confined Tuesday in China in the face of the largest covid-19 outbreak in two years, which prompted authorities to carry out mass testing on a scale not seen since the start of the pandemic.

The country reported 5,280 cases of covid-19 in the last 24 hours on Tuesday, the highest number since the first wave of the pandemic in early 2020, according to data from the National Health Commission (CNS).

SIGHT: China registers more than 5,000 new cases of coronavirus, a record for two years

At least 13 Chinese cities face full lockdowns and several others have partial lockdowns.

Through draconian restrictions, 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.

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Tuesday is the sixth consecutive day that the balance of daily cases exceeds a thousand infections.

The figures are small when compared to those of other countries, but under China’s “zero covid” strategy, even the smallest outbreak is met with severe measures.

The northeastern province of Jilin It was the hardest hit, with more than 3,000 cases on Tuesday, according to the CNS. The provincial capital of Changchum, population 9 million, as well as other cities, remain under stay-at-home orders.

Economic impact

The Governor of Jilin He promised to do everything possible to “reach zero community covid in a week,” state media reported.

The technological metropolis of shenzhen (south), with 17 million inhabitants, located at the gates of Hong Kong.

These measures caused the closure of numerous factories in the city, including that of the Taiwanese giant Foxconnthe main supplier of Apple.

Shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange fell around 3% after sinking more than 5% the day before.

What’s more, Dozens of internal flights from Beijing and Shanghai airports were cancelled, according to air traffic control data.

“The recent outbreak of covid and the new restrictions, in particular the confinement in shenzhenwill weigh on consumption and cause short-term supply disruptions,” said Tommy Wu of Oxford Economics in a briefing note.

He added that, with this, it will be a “challenge” for China reach its official goal of economic growth of 5.5% for this year.

For its 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 ease massive tests and confinements.

In total, the country registered around 120,000 covid cases and 4,636 deaths. The last fatality from the disease officially dates back to early 2021.

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Source: Elcomercio

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