Despite an arsenal of some of the world’s toughest COVID-19 measures, China with its largest number of local coronavirus cases for any seven-day period since subdued the country’s first pandemic nearly two years ago Ended its last week of 2021.
National Health Commission gave the report on Saturday 175 new community infections with confirmed clinical symptoms for December 31, taking the total number of local symptomatic cases in mainland China to 1,151 in the past week.
The boom is mostly driven by the outbreak in the northwestern industrial and technological center of Xian, a city of 13 million.
The deepening outbreak in Xian will likely prompt the determination of officials to curb transmission as soon as cases emerge. The city, under lockdown for 10 days until Saturday, has recorded 1,451 local symptomatic cases since December 9, the highest tally for any Chinese city in 2021.
While China’s case count is low compared to many outbreaks elsewhere in the world, preventing a large outbreak in 2022 will be critical. Beijing will host the Winter Olympic Games in February, and the ruling Communist Party will hold a congress once every five years, expected in the fall, where President Xi Jinping will secure a third term as party secretary.
The emergence of the highly permeable Omicron variant would also prompt Beijing to stick to its high vigil against the virus. China has reported a handful of imported Omicron cases and at least one locally transmitted case.
Since August, China has tried to bring any outbreak under control within about two weeks, compared with four to six weeks against sporadic flare-ups following the initial nationwide epidemic, according to the National Health Commission.
Cities adjacent to China’s borders are at higher risk of the virus, either due to the presence of overland transport links or the entry of infected travelers from other countries. Some have been hit by Delta’s outbreaks, which resulted in stricter travel restrictions last year.
Yunnan, which shares a border with Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, reported new local symptomatic cases in 92 days out of 365 last year, or 25% of the time, more than any other province, autonomous region or municipality. More often.
xian lockout
The Xian outbreak, which has led to cases in other cities including Beijing, can be traced to an incoming flight from Pakistan, but it was unclear how it spread to local communities.
Many people have been forbidden from leaving their residential premises, but a city government official said on Friday that restrictions would be eased in low-risk compounds when the time was right.
Li Jiaxin, a 23-year-old postgraduate student, said no one could leave his university campus. She spent New Year’s Eve with three of her roommates and was unable to meet her boyfriend and family.
“I may be what you would consider a person with a strong sense of humor, so I still feel a little sad that we’re not together at the moment,” she said.
Economic Crisis
China’s tough pandemic policies have helped prevent prolonged shutdowns of its vast industrial sector, which has reaped significant export gains as other pillars of growth weakened.
But unforeseen disruptions have rattled consumer sentiment and affected the catering, hospitality and tourism sectors.
An employee named Wang at a traditional teahouse in Yunnan’s capital Kunming said his company’s revenue had halved from pre-pandemic levels.
“Many guests from other provinces came to our teahouse specifically to taste pu’er tea from Yunnan, but now there are fewer of them,” Wang said.
“My salary hasn’t been deducted, but I think I can lose my job at any time.”
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