Compilation by Sahar Yaghoubi
On Tuesday, China reported a sharp increase in daily COVID-19 infections, with new cases more than tripling from the day before to reach a two-year high, raising worries about the mounting economic impact of the country’s stringent anti-disease policies.
According to the National Health Commission, 3,507 domestically transmitted cases with proven symptoms were recorded on Monday spanning more than a dozen provinces and municipalities, up from 1,337 the day before.
The majority of the new cases were found in Jilin, a region in northeastern China. Though China’s caseload is still small by global standards, health experts say the increase in daily infections over the next few weeks will be critical in determining whether the country’s “dynamic zero-COVID” approach of quickly containing each outbreak as it emerges is still effective against the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.
As a result of China’s anti-disease measures, manufacturers of everything from flash drives to glass for Apple’s iPhone screens are warning of shipping delays, placing further pressure on global supply chains.
The sharp rise has fueled concerns about China’s development prospects, causing market sentiment to deteriorate, with Chinese equities ending at 21-month lows on Tuesday and oil prices falling to a two-week low.
According to a COVID-19 forecasting system established by Lanzhou University in China’s northwest, the current wave of illnesses will be brought under control in early April after an estimated 35,000 cases.
While the newest outbreak on the mainland was the most dangerous since the virus was discovered in Wuhan in 2020, the university said on Monday that China could bring it under control by keeping strict controls.
According to Yanzhong Huang of the Council on Foreign Relations, China’s zero-tolerance policy is not only growing more expensive, but it is also yielding declining benefits against highly pathogenic Omicron.
“How is the Chinese economy going to be affected now that two of the richest Chinese cities, Shanghai and Shenzhen, are both under lockdown?” he wondered.
Shanghai is not under lockdown and does not need one “at this time,” according to the municipal administration, which is attempting to minimize disturbance to normal life.
The city will identify a few essential regions where control will be tightened even further, while elsewhere, people’s mobility would be limited via methods like staggered commuting or remote work, according to a statement.
The administration of Shenzhen’s southern metropolis has declared the week of outbreak restrictions a “slow living” time, suspending buses and subways, as well as weddings and burial ceremonies, and ordering daily testing for select inhabitants.
Because to COVID, 106 foreign planes scheduled to arrive in Shanghai will be redirected to other Chinese cities between March 21 and May 1.
On Monday, Jilin, which has limited movement by its 24.1 million inhabitants without telling authorities, accounted for over 90% of the mainland’s new local symptomatic cases.
According to a local newspaper, the provincial leader of China’s governing Communist Party said that Jilin authorities should increase their efforts to guarantee the isolation and close contact of all infected individuals.
On Tuesday, the northern city of Langfang ordered its 5.5 million residents to remain inside.
New asymptomatic cases, which China does not identify as confirmed cases, increased to 1,768 on Monday, up from 906 the day before. The death toll remained at 4,636 after no additional fatalities.
