Beijing: Nearly 30 million are under lockdown as COVID cases in China doubled ferociously in a day bringing the biggest outbreak by far. 5,280 new infections have been reported on Tuesday prompting restrictions in at least 10 cities and the rise of suited health officials on the streets on a scale not seen since the advent of the pandemic.
The North-eastern province of Jilin recorded the majority cases out of the 5,280 reported by the National Health Agency. On Monday too, 90% of the new symptomatic cases in China were found in Jilin. Authorities have imposed a travel ban on more than 2.4 crore people living in the region. Those who must travel needed to notify the local police, the provincial government said in a statement. Other cities like Changchun- home to 9 million people also barred movement.
Tech Hub – Shenzhen is three days into lockdown with many factories shut down and stores emptying shelves. A week-long lockdown was imposed on the city- a host to 1.75 million people. China’s largest city Shanghai is reeling under a lattice of restrictions. As restrictions edge closer to Beijing, public venues have tightened scrutiny of the ubiquitous health QR codes.
China had introduced ‘Zero COVID strategy’, which pivots on hard localized lockdowns and virtually cut off the Tech rich nation from the outside world for two years. The country’s COVID-19 cases are low as compared to elsewhere in the world but in the first two weeks of March, China recorded over 10,000 cases which exceeded the previous flare-ups.
Till now, no new deaths were reported in the multiple outbreaks across China.