Covid in China: More than 540,000 people have been quarantined in Zhejiang.
Beijing:
China’s economically important Zhejiang province struggled on Tuesday with a Covid-19 outbreak that put half a million people under quarantine and several districts closed for business.
Zhejiang, a major industrial and export hub on the country’s east coast, reported 44 of China’s 51 domestically transmitted coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the total since the weekend. up to nearly 200 cases.
Although China’s case count is very small compared to other major economies, officials in Zhejiang used a flash of bulk checks of the country’s signatures and locked-in targets with heightened concerns about the virus. new outbreaks as Beijing prepares to host the Winter Olympics in February.
Officials say more than 540,000 people have been quarantined in Zhejiang.
The problems in the province came as Chinese media reported on Monday that the country’s first case of the country’s fast-spreading variant of Omicron had been identified in the northern port city of Tianjin .
In recent days, counties in Ningbo – the province’s main port – and the nearby city of Shaoxing said they were also suspending some business activities.
Ningbo’s Zhenhai district, a major petrochemical facility, said all businesses not related to virus control or deemed important to the public would be closed and petrochemical producers output will have to be reduced.
A district in Shaoxing ordered business closures last Thursday.
Several publicly listed companies in Hangzhou, the province’s capital and largest city, have also issued statements that they have suspended production.
Data from flight tracking company VariFlight on Tuesday showed hundreds of flights out of Hangzhou were cancelled.
Zhejiang is one of China’s leading provinces in terms of GDP and exports.
“Closing factories in Zhejiang will impact the supply chains of various sectors, especially yarn and textiles,” Zhaopeng Xing, senior China strategist at ANZ Research, told AFP. .
He expects the outbreak could take up to 40 days to subside, and manufacturers will likely resume work only after the Lunar New Year holiday in February.
“The impact will be similar to what happened in September and October, when the allocation of power was made,” Xing said.
The world’s second-largest economy faced weeks of widespread power cuts – caused by stringent emissions targets and record coal prices – before stabilizing last month.
Xing said he expected the Covid disaster in Zhejiang to have a “mild impact” on China’s GDP.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the feed provided.)
