China is frantically enforcing new COVID restrictions after another outbreak of the coronavirus spread across the country.
On Tuesday, Chinese authorities tightened COVID restrictions at its ports, which meant that trade disruptions may follow after several auto and electronics factories shut down as the government combats the country's largest COVID outbreak since the pandemic began two years ago. This week, China prohibited people from leaving a northeastern province hit by COVID and continues its "zero tolerance" strategy all over major cities in the country.
The Epoch Times reported that since March 1, China has reported over 10,000 COVID cases across most of its provinces. In fact, the vice director for the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention, Lei Zhenglong said on March 14 that the COVID outbreaks are developing at an "accelerating speed." China even mobilized military reservists on Monday in response to the "stealth Omicron" variant BA.2 that has been causing these outbreaks, CBS News reported.
But critics continue to disbelieve China's official COVID figures, given the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) routine practice of controlling the narrative to ensure they are represented in a positive light, specifically that they have the COVID pandemic under control. Lei's announcement marks the highest recorded number of COVID cases since April 2020.
A resident from Changchun, which is home to up to nine million residents who have been ordered to quarantine for three days now, said that "There's no way [the tally is] accurate." Many are also critical of the regime's "zero COVID" policy, especially now that it is impacting China's economy in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But Lei insisted that the "dynamic COVID-zero" approach is "absolutely effective."
"We need to take action earlier, faster, stricter, and more thoroughly in outbreak response because the Omicron virus is sneaky and fast-spreading," Lei remarked.
Shanghai officials have also reportedly evicted tenants from apartments to make room for quarantine areas. A renter in an apartment in Xuhui district said that she and other tenants were only given a two hours to move out, lamenting that the residence was not a hotel but their home. She described the COVID restrictions as "laughable" and more political than practical.
A hotel marketing manager in Shanghai remarked, "The outbreak has hit Shanghai's economy hard because of the COVID-zero policy. This policy is hooked into the local officials' careers."
The careers of Chinese authorities are indeed on the line, especially when such lockdowns have grave implications for China's economy. Rajiv Biswas, chief Asia economist for IHS Markit, told CBS News, "The lockdown of Shenzhen creates significant risks of supply chain disruptions." He added that global disruption "would escalate if authorities in Shanghai also decide to implement a lockdown."
According to the report, new COVID cases reported on Tuesday on the Chinese mainland more than doubled to 3,507, with the Jilin province, where Changchun is located, having 2,601 cases. Hong Kong reported 26,908 COVID cases on Monday.
David Chao of Invesco remarked, "Many see this as a huge COVID risk that could potentially cause further weakness in the Chinese economy. But I think this gives policymakers the opportunity to evolve their pandemic policies."
