Cities across China are rolling out swift measures from mass-testing drives to lockdowns for just a mere handful of COVID-19 cases, aiming to keep flareups at bay and avoid the economic and social hardship endured by Shanghai.
The measures threaten to further upend household and business activity, from auto production to shipping, that are already struggling because of staff shortages and supply-chain bottlenecks.
Volvo, the Swedish carmaker owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, is scrambling to secure parts from suppliers outside of China, to mitigate the impact of the country’s severe lockdowns, the Financial Times reported.
Hangzhou, an e-commerce hub a short train ride from Shanghai, has started a mass testing drive. Schools in the capital, Beijing, will start their Labor Day holiday early, and don’t have a firm return date. And the port city of Qinhuangdao, along with Yiwu — known for its production of Christmas decorations — have gone into full or partial lockdowns.
The hard-line responses reflect the growing stakes local governments face in wrestling with the highly infectious omicron strain before it takes hold, plunging cities into protracted lockdowns that incur heavy costs on residents and businesses.
Other virus news and announcements include:
- Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport will alter some domestic passenger flights after abnormal COVID test results from some staff late Wednesday. At least three districts in Guangzhou started mass testing on Thursday.
- Passenger traffic during this weekend’s Labor Day holiday is expected to fall 62 percent year-on-year, with a drop expected on both highways and rail systems.
- China’s railway operator vowed to stabilize global supply chains by ramping up transportation through international rail links with Europe and Southeast Asia.
- Authorities have enacted closed-loop system for trucks at Shanghai port to ensure smooth flow of goods.
China’s dogged pursuit of COVID Zero, as the rest of the world lives with the virus and dismantles restrictions, has seen it slide in Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking of where the pandemic is being handled best with the least economic and social disruption.
Highly ranked in the first year-and-a-half of the pandemic, China has slipped to 51st among the 53 major economies tracked, with just Russia and the territory of Hong Kong scoring lower, dragged down by its increasing reliance on restrictions like lockdowns and its effectively closed international border.
Shanghai, which has become the biggest hotspot in China’s worst outbreak since the virus first emerged in Wuhan, has endured a month of lockdown that has kept most of the city’s 25 million residents confined to their homes.
The outbreak now appears to be stabilizing, with infections falling for a fifth day on Wednesday to 10,662 — the lowest in more than three weeks. Shanghai along with Jilin have accounted for about 95 percent of infections in the recent nationwide omicron outbreak, health officials said Thursday.
In Beijing, 56 cases were reported in the 24 hours ended 3 p.m. Thursday, with the relatively stable daily tally signaling mass-testing isn’t detecting a broader outbreak. There have been 194 infections since Friday, mostly centered around restaurants and schools. Officials said Wednesday students and toddlers account for nearly one-third of the infections found in the city at the time.