China: ‘Epidemic’ of harsh COVID lockdowns in cities, 800,000 people under house arrest in Wuhan

The “epidemic” of harsh lockdowns is spreading in China due to COVID, with a total reinstatement of the policy of “zero tolerance” to the pandemic.

The Chinese cities, from Wuhan in central China, to Xining in the northwest, they are multiplying restrictive measures for Covid-19, sealing buildings, applying lockdowns to districts and causing fear and depression to millions of citizens, in an effort to put an end to a new increase in cases.

China on Thursday reported more than 1,000 new Covid cases nationwide, a small tally compared to the tens of thousands a day that sent Shanghai into a full lockdown earlier this year, but enough for Beijing to trigger more restrictions measures throughout the country. Wuhan, the epicenter of the world’s Covid-19 pandemic in late 2019, reported about 20 to 25 new infections a day this week. The city has recorded 240 cases in the last 14 days. Local authorities ordered more than 800,000 people in one region to stay at home until October 30Wuhan also suspended the sale of pork in parts of the city, according to social media posts, after authorities said a case of Covid had been linked to the local pork supply chain.

Guangzhou, China’s fourth-largest city by economic output and the capital of Guangdong province on Thursday sealed off more streets and neighborhoods and kept people indoors as new areas were deemed high-risk in a Covid resurgence that continued into a fourth week. In Xining, the capital of Qinghai province, social media has been buzzing with food shortages and rising prices of essential goods as health authorities in the city of 2.5 million people struggle to contain a Covid rebound following the week-long Chinese holiday. national holiday in early October. “To reduce the risk of transmission, some vegetable and fruit shops have been closed and quarantined,” a Xining government official said on Wednesday. China’s level of coronavirus cases has remained small by global standards, but ultra-tight containment measures against the highly contagious Omicron sub-variant have weighed heavily on the world’s second-largest economy, sending financial markets into turmoil. Other major cities across China, including Datong and Xi’an, have implemented new restrictions this week to curb local cases.

In Beijing, the Universal Resort theme park was closed on Wednesday after at least one guest tested positive for the coronavirus. In Shengzhou, an epidemic broke out in a factory where he employs about 300,000 people and is known as the largest production unit of iPhones in the world. Foxconn Group, which runs the plant, acknowledged the outbreak on Wednesday but maintained that “operations and production … are relatively stable.” “Health and safety measures for workers (continue),” the Taiwanese electronics maker said, adding that it was “providing necessary livelihood guarantees, including material supply and psychological support.” The company did not say how many of its staff fell ill, but insisted it was a “small number” and that unfounded online rumors of tens of thousands of infections were “obviously false”. “At present, the epidemic prevention work in Shengzhou is progressing steadily and the consequences… are controllable,” the statement said.

China has repeatedly pledged to continue its “zero tolerance policy” on Covid-19 and implement whatever the Chinese authorities deem necessary to contain the virus.

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