China braces itself against Omikron: curfews for 30 million people across the country - stock prices fall

Created: 03/15/2022, 21:31

By: Christiane Kuehl

Mass testing in Shenzhen: the metropolis is in lockdown for a week © Chu Yan/Imago/Xinhua

China reports a new record with over 5,000 new infections.

At least 13 cities are in lockdown, and mass testing is underway in many places.

Can China Keep Zero Covid Policy?

Beijing/Munich – China* has been trying to get a grip on the outbreak of the latest omicron wave for days with new lockdowns.

A corona curfew applied to almost 30 million people on Tuesday – and yet the authorities set another record for new infections: 5,280 people were infected with the virus within one day, more than twice as many as the day before.

This is the highest daily tally since February 2020, when the pandemic began.

Several cities are in lockdown*, including the high-tech metropolis of Shenzhen*, which is on the outskirts of Hong Kong.

Mass testing of the 17 million inhabitants has begun there.

Nationwide, at least 13 cities were in full lockdown on Tuesday, and the authorities had imposed a partial lockdown on other cities.

Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng confirmed on Tuesday that the omicron wave has now spread to 28 provinces.

Prevention is "difficult, complicated and serious".

China still adheres to zero-Covid policy

Nevertheless, the country apparently wants to continue to stick to its zero-Covid strategy - although this really seems to be reaching its limits thanks to Omikron.

However, the country was able to contain the incidence of infection quite quickly with a strict zero-Covid policy in its territory.

As soon as a single case of infection occurred, the authorities imposed strict measures such as curfews, the sealing off of entire districts and mass tests.

The north-eastern province of Jilin on the border with North Korea, where more than 3,000 cases have been recorded, according to the National Health Commission, is hardest hit by the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant.

Volkswagen had already announced that three locations would be closed for several days due to the corona restrictions.

The governor of the province promised on Monday evening that he would do everything possible to get back to “zero Covid” “within a week”.

Travel has been banned throughout the province, and residents are also not allowed to leave the country.

China: Flights in Shanghai and Beijing canceled due to Covid

Dozens of domestic flights have been canceled at Beijing and Shanghai airports, according to flight data.

Aviation authorities also announced that more than 100 international flights bound for Shanghai will be diverted to other Chinese cities between next week and May 1.

In Shanghai itself, only individual districts have so far been cordoned off * because the authorities want to protect the economy of the important metropolis.

However, they warned that stricter measures could be forthcoming.

Local residents reported restaurant closures on Tuesday.

In Beijing, meanwhile, checks on vaccination certificates have been tightened.

At a press conference, health experts also called on older people to get vaccinated and get boosters.

In this age group in particular, the risk of serious illness is very high, warned the representative of the Health Commission, Jiao Yahui.

According to official figures, around 80 percent of people over the age of 60 in China have been vaccinated twice.

However, the authorities are observing the situation in Hong Kong* with concern, in which above all unvaccinated or insufficiently vaccinated older people have died as a result of Covid-19.

It is also unclear how well the Chinese vaccines work against omicrons.

Foreign vaccines are still not approved in China.

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The country's economy is also feeling the effects.

China: A single Corona case is enough to panic a city of millions

China's corona numbers are skyrocketing: the huge metropolis with 17 million inhabitants has to go into lockdown

It is the highest number of corona infections in more than two years: In China, several large cities have to go into lockdown.

Among them is the metropolis of Shenzhen.

China's corona numbers are skyrocketing: the huge metropolis with 17 million inhabitants has to go into lockdown

China: Observers fear economic problems from the omicron wave

The first economists are now warning of economic problems caused by the omicron wave and the lockdowns.

Business representatives fear hasty measures by the nervous authorities.

They only plan half a day in advance, according to Beijing.

The lockdowns caused the stock markets in China to collapse further on Tuesday.

On the Hong Kong stock exchange, the leading index Hang Seng fell by 5.7 percent, in Shanghai the stock exchange closed almost 5 percent in the red.

There had already been significant price losses in China the day before.

Wang Dan, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China, warned

that the slowdown in economic activity in coastal regions could push economic growth into negative territory in the first quarter , according to the

Strong easing measures would have to be taken in the coming months if China wanted to achieve its growth target.

At the National People's Congress, Premier Li Keqiang announced 5.5 percent as this year's growth target.