Beijing authorities have intervened in Shanghai after failing to isolate COVID by closing the city gradually, and insist the country must adhere to a zero-tolerance policy to prevent its medical system from collapsing. Authorities across China, which have largely managed to keep COVID out for the past two years, are stepping up coronavirus control measures, including travel restrictions, mass testing and new quarantine centers. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register The cities that started the action this week include Zhengzhou, in the central province of Henan, which on Thursday said it would examine the 12.6 million people after identifying some asymptomatic cases. Beijing has stepped up regular checks on workers in key areas of the city, requiring all staff at nursing homes, schools and institutions handling imported products to get tested at least once a week. In Shizong County in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, shops were closed, traffic was disrupted and residents were barred from leaving their cities or villages. Nomura this week estimated that 23 Chinese cities have implemented either full or partial lockdowns. Cities collectively host about 193 million people and contribute 22% of China’s GDP. These include Changchun, a major production hub that has been closed for 28 days. Ernan Cui, an analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics who studied COVID policies announced by China’s 100 largest cities, said most chose to keep the restrictions in place even when the number of cases returned to zero. The restrictions “indicate that the financial impact of the various lockdowns will not be mitigated in a few days or even weeks,” he said in a note. If the lockdown in Shanghai continues throughout April, the city will lose 6% of GDP, equivalent to a 2% loss of GDP for China as a whole, said in a note ING chief economist for Greater China Iris Pang. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement on Friday that the Biden government was closely monitoring the lockdown in Shanghai, noting that it could cause air traffic delays. W1N2VE032 ‘NIGHT’ ACTION The Shanghai outbreak has exceeded 130,000 total cases, far exceeding the approximately 50,000 incidental cases recorded in the initial outbreak in central Wuhan city, where the virus was first detected in late 2019, although Chinese authorities have not yet begun report asymptomatic cases only after Wuhan. peak. Stories of busy and unhealthy quarantine centers and fears of family separation have led to quarantine calls at home in Shanghai. The Shanghai government has begun allowing some close contacts to be isolated at home, and on Wednesday eased its policy of separating infected children from their parents. However, the supply of food remains problematic for the residents, due to the lack of couriers. On Friday afternoon, the results for the hashtag “Shanghai buys food” were blocked on the Twitter-like social networking site Weibo. Weibo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shanghai has not indicated when it may lift the lockdown. Late Thursday, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at China’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on his Weibo account that the action in Shanghai had to be “thunderous” to cut the chain. Theoretically, he said, if multiple rounds of PCR were performed in large cities with a population of up to 27 million in 2-3 days, they could reach zero “community-level” cases in 10 days to two weeks. Of the Shanghai cases, only one has severe symptoms and is being treated, a health official said on Friday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reports from Brenda Goh, Roxanne Liu, David Stanway, David Kirton and the Beijing Newsroom. curated by Gerry Doyle, Mark Heinrich, Nick Macfie and Bernard Orr Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
