Wednesday, April 20, 2022

373 million people locked down in China

An estimated 373 million people – equal to the combined populations of Canada and the United States – are living under some form of lockdown in China.

China’s Shanghai reports first COVID deaths since lockdown | Al Jazeera:

April 18, 2022 - "The Chinese city of Shanghai has announced its first deaths in a COVID-19 outbreak that has plunged the financial hub into a weeks-long lockdown and sparked widespread anger and rare protests. In a statement on Monday, the city said three people infected with COVID-19 had died on the previous day. It added that two of the dead were women aged 89 and 91, while the third was a 91-year-old man.... It also reported 22,248 domestic cases of COVID-19 on Monday....

"In response, authorities have doubled down on Beijing’s longstanding zero-tolerance approach to the virus, vowing to persist with onerous curbs on movement and isolating anyone who tests positive.... Residents in Shanghai – one of China’s wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities – have chafed under the restrictions, with many complaining of food shortages, spartan quarantine conditions and heavy-handed enforcement.... In a rare glimpse into the discontent, videos posted online last week showed some residents scuffling with hazmat-suited police ordering them to surrender their homes to patients. Other footage and audio clips have indicated increasing desperation, including some showing people bursting through barricades demanding food."
Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/18/chinas-shanghai-reports-first-covid-deaths-since-lockdown

Lockdowns affecting 373 million Chinese | Bangkok Post - Kyodo News:

April 16, 2022 - "About 373 million people in 45 cities across China have come under some form of lockdown due to a surge in coronavirus cases, according to estimates by a Nomura International analysts in Hong Kong. [sic] The figure amounts to 26.4% of the country’s total population, as the government in Beijing continues to pursue a radical zero-Covid policy, fuelling concerns that stringent measures could negatively affect the world’s second-largest economy and the global supply chain....

"According to Nomura, complete or partial lockdowns were in place in 45 Chinese cities as of Monday, up from 23 cities with a total population of 193 million a week earlier. The 45 cities’ combined annual gross domestic product amounts to 46 trillion yuan (US$7.2 trillion), or 40.3% of the country’s economy. In the areas under lockdown, residents have seen their movements restricted, with public transport, such as buses and subways, halted. In Shanghai, videos of scuffles between police and residents, frustrated with the strict isolation policy, went viral at one point, but they were later deleted."
Read more: https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2295734/lockdowns-affecting-373-million-chinese

China’s economy pays a price as lockdowns restrict nearly a third of its population | New York Times - Alexandra Stevenson:

April 14, 2022 - "Nearly 400 million people are estimated to be under some form of lockdown in China as officials try to stop a fast-moving Omicron outbreak that is beginning to weigh on the world’s second-largest economy. Hundreds of thousands of people have been sent to isolation facilities in China, and millions more have been told to stay in their homes. 

"Officials in dozens of cities have shut down normal daily life across the country in a race to track and trace the coronavirus and stamp out China’s worst outbreak since the start of the pandemic.... It’s part of a pandemic strategy that is increasingly at odds with China’s own economic growth expectations — one that has prompted economists and even the country’s premier to sound an alarm....

"China’s response to its latest outbreak is also beginning to have an impact on the world’s global supply chain, as factories that make iPhones, electric cars and semiconductors have had to stop operations. Some critical components cannot be trucked from ports to factories because of roadblocks and stringent Covid test requirements.... In some places without any reported cases, officials have put in place roadblocks, leading the State Council, China’s cabinet, to tell local authorities this week not to obstruct major roads, ports and airports."
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/14/business/china-lockdowns-economy.html

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