Status: 03/13/2022 4:24 p.m
China registered almost 3,400 new corona cases in one day, the highest number of new infections since February 2020. Several major cities imposed a lockdown.
In the worst corona wave in China since the beginning of the pandemic more than two years ago, the number of infections continues to skyrocket. The Health Commission reported a daily record of more than 3,400 cases in 19 regions.
The authorities are reacting with mass tests, transport restrictions, curfews and the closure of schools and universities. Makeshift hospitals with thousands of beds have started to be built in several cities to isolate those infected. Three weeks ago, only a few dozen infections per day were reported.
Lockdowns in several cities
A one-week lockdown was imposed on the metropolis of Shenzhen, which has a population of nine million and is on the border with Hong Kong, which was also badly affected. The 26 million inhabitants of Shanghai and the nine million of Qingdao were asked not to leave the port cities. Anyone who absolutely has to travel must present a negative corona test from the last 48 hours – similar to every traveler on arrival.
A lockdown was already imposed on the nine-million-strong metropolis of Changchun in the north-east on Friday. Only one person per household is allowed to leave the apartment every two days to go shopping. The city of Yanji on the border with North Korea has been completely sealed off.
The corona virus was first discovered in China at the end of 2019. The government in Beijing has so far prevented widespread spread with drastic measures. Life and the economy largely returned to normal. Outbreaks have been limited, most of which have been successfully responded to with lockdowns, mass testing and quarantine.
‘Zero Covid’ questioned
In the meantime, however, doubts are growing about the “zero Covid” strategy decreed by Beijing, which has resulted in little or no new infections for months. The authorities then increasingly rely on milder and more targeted measures to contain the virus.