Shanghai: China reported 338 new COVID-19 infections on July 12, of which 98 were symptomatic and 240 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday. This compares with the 424 new cases, 107 symptomatic and 317 asymptomatic infections a day earlier, which China counts separately. Zero new deaths were reported as the day before, taking the country’s death toll to 5,226.
As of Tuesday, mainland China had 226,909 confirmed cases with symptoms. The local government said Beijing, the capital of China, has reported no new local symptomatic cases compared to a day earlier, and no local asymptomatic cases versus zero.
Local government data showed Shanghai reported five new local symptomatic cases, compared with five the day before, and 50 local asymptomatic cases versus 54 the previous day. All Shanghai cases were recorded in the quarantine zones.
Shanghai’s economy has been hit by the COVID outbreak
Concern levels rose along with temperatures in Shanghai on Wednesday, as medical workers put on their hazmat suits while conducting mandatory mass testing for COVID-19 in a city that recently emerged from a painful two-month lockdown. sweated under.
China’s commercial hub has been grappling with an outbreak that has recorded dozens of new infections daily for the past week, and although the numbers are relatively small, it has upset many of the city’s 25 million people who died in April. had suffered losses during the lockdown. and may.
And daytime temperatures of around 40 °C (104F) added to the febrile environment among the population, who fear the psychological and financial costs of another such test.
Ying Jie, a personal trainer, said that even as Shanghai survives another lockdown, he intends to close his gym for good, just a year after opening, as he can no longer face the uncertainty Is.
Gyms in some areas of the city, including Ying, were ordered to suspend operations this week due to the outbreak. “We were open from July 1 to July 10,” Ying said. “I can’t pay the rent, but I can’t open. If I open secretly and have positive cases involving my gym, I’ll lose my license. The risk of getting fined is too high.”
While most other major countries are choosing to live with the virus, China has followed a “dynamic zero-COVID” policy that aims to end outbreaks quickly, but its economy is paying a price. .
The authorities’ hope for success lies in the relentless screening and targeted isolation orders that have been issued to hundreds of residential buildings and commercial sites so far.
As lockdowns in Shanghai and elsewhere earlier this year battered the world’s second-largest economy, ripples were felt in global supply chains and international trade.
Although China’s foreign trade increased in May and June after declining in April, the outlook remained volatile, Li Kuiwen, a spokesman for the General Administration of Customs, told reporters.
escape plan
City officials have repeatedly dismissed talk of widespread restrictions, even as they warned about the risks posed by the highly-contagious Omicron ba.5.2. All 55 new local cases reported on 12 July were found in people already in isolation.
But many residents are stocking up on basic supplies, preparing for the worst. “There are no signs that they will close our neighborhood right now. But there were no signs the first time around either,” said Israeli trade adviser Omri Hefner. “I will escape Shanghai as soon as possible this time,” Hefner said, adding that he intends to move to Beijing, then home to Israel, and only once COVID policies are eased in China. Will return.
Overall, mainland China reported 261 new domestically transmitted COVID infections on 12 July, up from 347 the previous day. Analysts at Nomura estimate that more than 30 cities are facing COVID restrictions.
In the northwestern province of Gansu, which reported 69 local cases on July 12, the city of Lanzhou, with more than 40 million residents, said on Wednesday that for the next seven days, only one person per household would pick up groceries. Can leave residential premises. There is a ban on non-essential workers going to the offices.
In the central province of Henan, major urban areas of the city of Zumadian entered a three-day lockdown from Tuesday, with residents allowed only for COVID tests, hospital visits and shopping for basic necessities.
The rules came after the city of Qinyang, which comes under Zumadian’s jurisdiction, imposed an indefinite lockdown on some 700,000 residents since Sunday. Infections have also been detected in the southern provinces of Guangdong, the eastern provinces of Shandong and Jiangsu and elsewhere.