More than 23,000 Covid cases have been reported in Shanghai, China
Key Takeaways:
- On Saturday, Shanghai reported 3,590 new symptomatic Covid-19 cases, the highest daily increase since April 15, with approximately 20,000 asymptomatic infections.
- Millions of people are confined to their homes in the city, and some areas have been closed off for more than three weeks.
Shanghai reported 3,590 new symptomatic Covid-19 cases on Saturday, the largest daily increase, including nearly 20,000 asymptomatic infections on April 15, as more major Chinese cities imposed movement restrictions and partial lockdowns in a measure to curb the Omicron-driven pandemic.
Shanghai remains the epicenter of the current outbreak, with little indication that the lockdown will be loosened.
Millions of people in the city are still confined to their homes, and some sections have been sealed off for more than three weeks.
The Covid-19 case figure from the financial hub accounted for the great majority of cases on the mainland, which reported 3,867 symptomatic as well as 20,813 asymptomatic illnesses on Friday.
In the current phase of the outbreak, the city had registered nearly 330,000 infections as of Friday.
The portion of the cash that banks must retain as reserves was slashed by China's central bank on Friday evening, attempting to cushion a steep slowdown in growth.
"The persisting and expanding limitations reflect widespread supply chain issues," according to Reuters, "which are expected to cause delays in shipments from companies such as Apple."
"Due to the slowness in road transport caused by the Covid-19 outbreaks," state news outlet Xinhua said, "an increasing number of firms in Shanghai and Suzhou are carrying cargo by water through a green route encouraged by the Taicang and Shanghai ports."
Following Covid-19 infections this month, more cities, like Xian in northwestern China, have advised citizens to avoid needless travels outside their residential compounds and encouraged businesses to have staff work from home or live at their offices.
The 13-million-strong city underwent one of China's longest pandemic-related lockdowns in January.
Residents of the historic city, a popular tourist destination, were confined from December 22 to January 24 following the discovery of a Covid-19 cluster that developed to over 2,100 cases, making it China's worst local outbreak in months at the time.
On Friday, the Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone in central China, Apple supplier Foxconn, declared a 14-day lockdown "to be amended according to the epidemic scenario."
Suzhou, in eastern China's Jiangsu province, approximately an hour's drive from Shanghai, ramped up epidemic prevention as well as control measures on Saturday, following the discovery of many positive cases among migrant workers near the Suzhou railway station.
"To minimize social mobility and fast sever the infection chain, residents were urged to stay at home if there was no emergency," the state-run Global Times said.