China witnesses a continuous rise in COVID-19 cases in its worst outbreak gripping entire country
China witnesses a continuous rise in COVID-19 cases in its worst outbreak gripping entire country
China reported nearly 5,400 new Covid cases on Tuesday, as the country is battling a severe surge led by Omicron from Jilin in the north-east to Guangdong in the South confining tens of millions of people in lockdown. This is the highest daily count since the start of the pandemic with Jilin province being the worst hit which reported more than 4000 new local cases in today’s surge. Announcing the numbers on Tuesday, China’s National Health Commission said, the COVID19 situation in China is grim and complex, making it more difficult to prevent and control. The Chinese mainland reported a total of 15,000 COVID19 cases from March 1 to 14, affecting 28 provinces and regions. With an increasing number of positive cases, the difficulty in preventing and controlling the disease is also increased. But the affected provinces and cities are dealing with it in an orderly and favorable way, thus the epidemic overall is still under control, it said.
State media reported the government has put 24 million people of Jilin province into lockdown as it tries to contain a Covid-19 outbreak that has spread to multiple locations. According to the report, the provincial Party chief said the cases haven’t peaked yet and that Jilin faces a “severe and complicated situation.” According to reports, a military region in Jilin Province dispatched 7,000 soldiers to support the COVD-19 work. It was only last Friday when Jilin’s Changchun city with 9 million residents was put in lockdown. Jilin officials are stepping up the preparation of temporary hospitals and designated hospitals and making use of idle venues to be used as isolation facilities but finding it difficult to manage resources to contain the fast spread.
At least 10 cities and counties have been locked down because of the latest surge, including the tech hub of Shenzhen, home to 17 million and financial hub Shanghai remains in semi lockdown. Schools and colleges have been shut in affected regions. China’s aviation regulator said that 106 international flights scheduled to arrive in Shanghai would be diverted to other domestic cities from 21 March to 1 May due to Covid. Major Apple supplier Foxconn announced it suspended its operations in Shenzhen to comply with Covid-19 restrictions in the city. Few units of Volkswagen have been shut in Jilin. State media reported Chinese shares fell across the board on Tuesday, with the flagship Shanghai index diving 4.95% to close at 3,063.97 points. The Hong Kong benchmark Hang Sang index also continued a rout, amid risk spillover from delisting woes of US-traded Chinese stocks in recent days.
The entire state machinery has swung into action as China is doubling down on its “Zero-COVID” policy which it has implemented for the last two years to keep the case numbers low. Chinese officials have been under pressure to bring outbreaks under control and have been reprimanded by higher administrations for “poor performance” as cases grow. Even though the country’s caseload is still small if compared to numbers globally, health experts said the rate of increase in daily cases over the next few weeks would be a crucial factor in determining whether its tough containment approach was still effective against the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.
According to reports, China has dismissed at least 26, government officials, this month in cities where outbreaks have occurred, including a mayor and a director of municipal health commission in Jilin province, and a vice mayor and a deputy director of the provincial police department in Guangdong. The National Health Commission said 65% of all severe COVID19 cases in China involve people aged 60 and above. 80% of them have underlying diseases. Among those severe cases, 65% are not vaccinated. Overall, 87% of the Chinese population has completed vaccination courses mostly with inactivated vaccines.
