Millions of people in Shanghai lined up Thursday for a third day of mass COVID-19 testing, as authorities in several Chinese cities scrambled to stamp out new outbreaks that have reignited concerns about the growth of the world’s second-largest economy. .
Unless local officials manage to prevent the spread of the virus, they could be forced to invoke lengthy and major restrictions on the movement of residents, under China’s “dynamic zero covid” strategy.
The country’s most populous city, Shanghai, has just emerged from a painful two-month lockdown and is back on high alert, rushing to isolate infections linked to karaoke services that have been running illegally.
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Shanghai reported 54 new locally transmitted COVID cases on Wednesday, up from 24 the day before. More than 70 confirmed cases in recent days are linked to karaoke bars, officials said.
Overall, mainland China reported 338 new local COVID cases on Wednesday, down from 353, with no new deaths, numbers most countries would now consider negligible.
But China’s approach to rigorously eradicating outbreaks as they occur makes residents wary of more of the kind of restrictions that have caused mental stress and financial hardship for many, disrupted global supply chains and foreign trade and rattled markets. financial.
“Omicron’s resurgence is not an issue in most other countries, but remains a prevalent issue for the Chinese economy,” Nomura analysts wrote in a note, referring to the highly transmissible COVID variant.
Given that China is “by far the world’s largest manufacturing hub, any new wave of Omicron is likely to have a non-negligible impact,” they added.
Shanghai, China’s commercial hub, ordered most of its 25 million residents to take two mandatory COVID tests between Tuesday and Thursday.
City residents frequently take self-administered tests to enter shopping malls or ride public transportation, and are also required to participate in citywide tests every weekend through the end of July.
Another 50 residential complexes and venues were closed Thursday in Shanghai, bringing the total to 81.
Playing whack-a-mole with COVID outbreaks
Around half of China’s 338 new cases were in the eastern province of Anhui, where more than 1 million people in small towns are in lockdown.
In Beijing, four new infections were reported, up from six the day before.
The capital has mandated that from July 11 most people entering crowded places, such as libraries, cinemas and gyms, must have been vaccinated.
After finding a COVID case involving someone who had arrived from Shanghai, the city of Xinjiang in the northern province of Shanxi tested almost its entire population of 280,000, suspended taxi, shuttle and bus services, and closed several entertainment venues.
In a different province, Shaanxi, which reported four new cases, the tourism and cultural authority asked travel agencies to cancel group tours in its capital, Xian, famous for its Terracotta Army.
China has justified its uncompromising strategy against the coronavirus by saying that it is saving lives and that the “temporary” economic costs are worth it. Officials have contrasted the millions of COVID-related deaths worldwide with China’s reported death toll of 5,226 since the start of the pandemic two and a half years ago.
However, analysts warn that some costs may become permanent if China’s debt load mounts and if restrictions cause foreign investors and talent to reconsider their presence in the country.
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Premier Li Keqiang was quoted by state media on Thursday as saying that China’s economy is recovering, but the foundation of that recovery is not solid and hard work is still needed.
China plans to set up a 500 billion yuan ($75 billion) state infrastructure fund to revive the economy, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
($1 = 6,7000 Chinese yuan)
— Additional reporting by Wang Jing in Shanghai and Ryan Woo in Beijing Written by Marius Zaharia and John Geddie