Covid-19 4th Wave: China puts 21 crore people under lockdown, Chinese economy nosedives

Beijing:

The National Health Commission on Tuesday (May 3, 2022) said that China has registered 6,074 new COVID-19 cases, including 384 asymptomatic and 5,690 asymptomatic. However, the new coronavirus cases were down from 7,822 a day earlier, of which 865 were asymptomatic and 6,957 were asymptomatic.

Around 20 new coronavirus-related deaths occurred in the financial center of Shanghai, where the city’s 26 million people have been trapped indoors for more than a month.

China, which is going through its worst phase of the pandemic, has so far confirmed 2,17,836 Kovid-19 infections and 5,112 deaths.

The coronavirus, in particular, first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and for two years, authorities managed to keep the massive outbreak under control with lockdowns and travel restrictions. But the recent surge of Omicron variants has now tested China’s “zero-Covid-19” policy this year. While many other countries are easing their pandemic restrictions.

The Chinese government has restricted travel, is conducting mass testing and setting up temporary facilities to try to isolate every infected person.

According to a report, about 21 crore people in 26 cities are still completely or partially locked down in China. However, Chinese officials have repeatedly said that heavy-handed COVID-19 curbs, including prolonged lockdowns, are needed to save as many lives as possible and avoid overburdening the health system.

Cities under lockdown contribute 22% of China’s GDP

The Chinese cities which are under complete or partial lockdown, reportedly contribute 22% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). China’s GDP, which grew 4.8% in the first quarter from a year earlier, weakened sharply in March (with a contraction in retail sales and the highest unemployment rate since May 2020).

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