Tens of millions of other people were stranded in China on Wednesday and businesses in a major resort town were forced to close as new Covid-19 groups raised fears of broader restrictions.
The Chinese health government has reported more than 300 infections in the historic northern city of Xi’an, home of the Terracotta Army, with new groups discovered in Shanghai, Beijing and elsewhere.
The outbreaks and official reaction dashed hopes that China would move away from the strict virus restrictions seen earlier this year, when its radical zero-covid policy saw tens of millions of other people forced to stay home for weeks.
In Shanghai, some social media users said they had earned food rations from the government, a reversal of the months-long lockdown imposed on the city’s citizens earlier this year.
“I’m so nervous, the epidemic has destroyed my youth,” a Shanghai resident posted on Weibo.
Authorities have introduced a new Mass circular in more than a portion of the city’s neighborhoods following a spike in cases since the weekend. All karaoke bars closed on Wednesday after some infections were connected to six sites.
“I think it’s not mandatory and I don’t need to do it,” Alice Chan, a Shanghai resident, told AFP.
She said she participated in the most recent test circular for fear that the fitness code stored on her smartphone, which is used to access public spaces, would identify her in a different way as a Covid risk.
“I think the scenario will not happen anytime soon,” said some other neighbor, who called himself Yao.
“People are already afraid of covid, they are afraid of being locked in their homes. “
Japan’s Nomura Bank estimated that at least 114 million other people were under full or partial lockdown across the country on Monday, up sharply from 66. 7 million last week.
China reported more than three hundred infections on Wednesday, with groups discovered in the historic northern city of Xi’an and Shanghai Photo: AFP/Hector RETAMAL
The recent resurgences pose a new challenge for President Xi Jinping, who last week reaffirmed his commitment to the zero covid strategy despite the emerging economic cost.
In I’an, a city of thirteen million others that underwent a month-long shutdown last year, the population was put under “temporary measures” after 29 infections were detected since Saturday, most commonly among recycling workers.
The city government has announced it will close entertainment venues, adding pubs, internet cafes and karaoke bars from Wednesday.
State media showed Xi’an citizens lining up for testing after Tuesday, but said the city was not closed.
Officials blamed the outbreak on a subvariant of Omicron, which is transmissible and evasive immune.
“All infections are from the BA. 5. 2 branch of the Omicron variant, and epidemiological follow-up charts are in full swing,” Xi’an fitness leader Ma Chaofeng told a news conference.
In Beijing, officials said Wednesday that the BA. 5. 2 branch had also been detected in the capital, but that the outbreak remained “controllable. “
But the city will beef up vaccination needs from July 11, fitness official Li Ang told reporters.
Visitors to places such as museums, sports centers, libraries and cinemas will need to be vaccinated unless they are exempt, Mr. Li said.
The city is also pushing for more retirees to be vaccinated, saying those stopping at senior centers should be stung as soon as possible.
The China group is located in the central province of Anhui, where more than 1,000 infections have been reported since last week.
Dozens of cases have been reported in Shanghai’s neighboring Jiangsu province threatening the Yangtze Delta production region.
“The resurgence of Omicron is a challenge for many other countries, but it remains a major challenge for the Chinese economy,” said Ting Lu, china’s lead economist at Nomura.