Covid-19 infections have continued to rise in China’s southern manufacturing hub of Guangzhou, prompting lockdowns in more residential areas and daily citywide testing. As Covid-cases surged again in Zhengzhou, workers at Foxconn's plant tried to escape from the factory before an expected lockdown.
In Guangzhou restaurant dining was banned across half the city. Residents said the impact on business had already been huge and they were worried that even more stringent zero-Covid measures would be imposed if the daily caseload kept rising. Infections in the Guangdong capital more than doubled on October 28, climbing to 139 from 65 a day earlier. The total had dropped slightly to 50 on the 26th, from 73 on the 25th. Close to 15.6 million people had Covid-19 tests in the city on October 28. Some districts earlier sent notices warning residents that missed tests would “bring a lot of inconvenience” and could even have “legal consequences”. Authorities have issued several notices in the past week stepping up pandemic control measures.
As of October 29, there were 45 high-risk and 79 medium-risk areas across the city, with residents either in partial or full lockdowns. A negative Covid-19 tests from the previous 48 hours is needed to enter marketplaces and shopping malls throughout the city. If the number of high-risk areas keeps increasing, Guangzhou citizens might be required to quarantine after traveling to other areas in the country, preventing them to attend business meetings. Haizhu district, a textile and garments industry hub, remains the hotspot in the latest outbreak in Guangzhou, with a large number of migrant workers and small factories under lockdown, and business and production suspended.
This comes amid a rebound in Covid-19 cases in Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan, following October's weeklong National Day break and the Party Congress. The Shanghai Disney Resort announced it would temporarily close some retail and park areas, as well as live entertainment shows, citing the need to comply with epidemic prevention and control measures. In Beijing, Universal Studios closed its hotels and attractions “to comply with pandemic prevention and control”.
In the central city of Zhengzhou, a negative PCR test taken within the previous 24 hours is required for entry to all premises, including residential communities. The world’s largest iPhone factory, run by Foxconn Technology Group, imposed tough coronavirus control measures on October 21, including closing the dine-in canteen, to keep production running normally amid a fresh outbreak that has put parts of the city under lockdown. Factory workers were seen fleeing the factory on foot heading back to their hometowns before an expected lockdown. They walked through fields to avoid checkpoints on the roads. Factory managers pledged to arrange safe passage by bus for workers wishing to leave and a sanitized environment for those who choose to stay on.
In a world first, Shanghai last week started administering an inhalable Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccine, a mist that is sucked in through the mouth, is being offered for free as a booster for previously vaccinated people. Scientists hope that such needle-free vaccines will make vaccination more accessible in countries with fragile health systems because they are easier to administer. They also may persuade people who do not like needles to get inoculated. China wants more people to get booster shots before it relaxes strict pandemic restrictions that are holding back the economy and are increasingly out of sync with the rest of the world. As of mid-October, about 90% of Chinese were fully vaccinated and 57% had received a booster shot. The inhalable vaccine was developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company CanSino Biologics as an aerosol version of the company’s one-shot adenovirus vaccine. About a dozen nasal vaccines are being tested globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
This overview is based on reports by the China Daily, Shanghai Daily, Global Times and South China Morning Post.
