Status: 11/22/2022 08:51 a.m
In China, the Corona numbers are increasing rapidly. Three dead were reported from Beijing. People should stay at home, shops and schools are closed. A farewell to the zero-Covid policy is not in sight.
Three corona deaths have been reported from Beijing in the past few days – the first official deaths related to Covid-19 in China in six months. Parts of the capital have been put into a kind of lockdown. Malls and stores are closed, schools are doing online classes, restaurants are only allowed to offer take-away food. Parks and attractions are closed, supermarkets require a PCR test that is not older than 24 hours.
“Pandemic policy at a critical moment”
People in the capital have been asked to stay at home. The population is screened. The numbers are rising fast. More than 1,400 new infections were recently found in Beijing, more than ever before.
City government spokesman Xu Hejian said: “There are currently isolated outbreaks in several places across China. In Beijing, the number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise at a high level. (..) The pandemic policy in the capital is in its most critical moment.”
Spring high almost reached
Across China, the number was almost 28,000 new infections. This means that the previous spring high has almost been reached, when the financial metropolis of Shanghai, with its more than 25 million inhabitants, was in total lockdown for two months. The biggest outbreak is still in the southern economic metropolis of Guangzhou, which is also partially in lockdown.
The authorities in Shijiazhuang near Beijing have made a U-turn. After the communist central government announced some changes to the strict zero-Covid strategy, testing capacities were shut down in the city of eleven million. In the meantime, test results were no longer checked, as is usual. Meanwhile, Shijiazhuang is in lockdown, people have to stay at home, the city is being tested.
After the announced changes, there was hope among both the population and investors in the financial markets that China could now slowly bid farewell to the strict zero-Covid policy. These hopes have been shattered once again on the basis of the latest developments.