Corona pandemic in China: Shenzhen and Chengdu in partial lockdown

Mass tests and quarantine: Due to a few dozen cases a day, two Chinese metropolises are currently in partial lockdown. A total of almost 30 cities are affected by the strict zero-Covid measures.

The two Chinese megacities of Chengdu and Shenzhen are in a kind of lockdown – because of a few dozen corona cases each day.

Chengdu and Shenzhen are among the five most populous cities in China. Both metropolitan regions have around 20 million inhabitants each, and these are repeatedly tested. In districts where cases are emerging, people are not allowed to leave their apartments and houses.

A total of more than 65 million people affected

Everything necessary will be done, all forces and resources will be mobilized to get the local outbreak under control in the shortest possible time, according to Lin Hancheng from the health authority in the southern Chinese technology metropolis of Shenzhen.

According to the Chinese business magazine Caixin, more than 30 Chinese cities are currently in a kind of lockdown, and more than 65 million people are affected by the measures.

China continues to adhere to zero Covid policy

According to official information, more than 1,600 new infections were recently registered across China within 24 hours. Compared to the rest of the world, the numbers are low in the world’s most populous country with 1.4 billion people. However, the state and party leadership is still sticking to its strict zero-Covid policy.

Wherever infections emerge, authorities are cracking down on the virus quickly and harshly, with mass testing, lockdown restrictions and contact tracing using cellphone data and smartphone tracing apps.

The economy in the People’s Republic is increasingly suffering from the restrictions. The communist government in Beijing announced in the spring that it expects gross domestic product to increase by 5.5 percent this year. It is now considered impossible that this growth target will be achieved.