SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) – A handful of COVID-19 infections have forced the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin to close many entertainment venues and some kindergartens and tutoring agencies, the latest major city to combat emerging outbreaks.
Tianjin, with a population of more than 12 million and home to factories connected to Boeing and Volkswagen, on Monday reported 11 transmitted infections after about a week of 0 cases, according to official data released Tuesday.
Tianjin Port Co Ltd, which manages the port’s shipping loading and unloading activities, is operating normally, a representative said on Tuesday.
The number of cases in Tianjin and the rest of China has been low in the global context for more than two years, but China has maintained a “zero covid dynamic” policy of containing outbreaks as soon as they appear, even with its strict measures. In reaction to the highly transmissible variant of Omicron, they have disrupted local business and clouded the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy.
Tianjin officials said last Monday that indoor entertainment venues, such as chess and card halls and bars, were ordered closed in two districts with a total population of more than 2 million. Array without specifying a date for its reopening.
One of the districts said it had ordered a three-day closure of kindergartens and tutoring agencies.
Nomura analysts said in a note Monday that about 264. 1 million people in 41 cities in China are affected by general or partial closures or other measures, up from 247. 5 million in 31 cities last week.
Including the Tianjin cases, mainland China reported 699 new transmitted infections on July 18, of which 199 were symptomatic and 500 asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday.
Most of Monday’s news was discovered in the northwestern province of Gansu and the southern region of Guangxi.
In the provincial capital of Gansu, Lanzhou, a district of more than 100,000 people went into lockdown since Monday, so each family can leave their residential complex only once a day to buy groceries. People started last week and lasted until July 24.
In Guangxi, the coastal city of Beihai, which lately has more than 700 local cases, has become the newest resort town affected by the restrictions.
Beihai told hotels and agencies to fully reimburse travel and reservations booked for those who ultimately failed to come, reversing a pre-outbreak boom call.
It is also rushing to cater to more than 2000 tourists trapped in the city, some of whom were in close contact with infections or visited spaces affected by the virus and may simply not leave without going through quarantine. Tourists who may leave will have to show negative verification effects within the last 48 hours.
Shanghai’s financial hub, which reported 23 new local authorities by Monday, began mass testing in several of its 16 districts on Tuesday, following a similar testing crusade last week.
There are no new deaths, leaving the number of deaths in the country at 5,226.
As of Monday, mainland China had shown 227,830 cases with symptoms, adding cases and irritated foreign travelers.
(Reporting through Roxanne Liu, Ryan Woo and Shanghai Newsroom; Editing through Kim Coghill and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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