China locks down city of 300,000 over single Covid case

A worker wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) sits behind a fence in a residential area under a Covid-19 lockdown in the Xuhui district of Shanghai on June 16, 2022. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)

Beijing, China — Hundreds of thousands of people were under lockdown in a small Chinese city Tuesday after just one case of Covid-19 was detected, as Beijing’s strict no-tolerance virus strategy showed no sign of abating.

China is the last major economy glued to a zero-Covid policy, crushing new outbreaks with snap lockdowns, forced quarantines and onerous travel curbs despite mounting public fatigue and damage to the economy.

Authorities in several regions have imposed a range of restrictions as they struggle to tamp down fresh flare-ups driven by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

After reporting a new domestic infection, the steelmaking hub of Wugang in Henan province announced Monday that it would implement three days of “closed control” in response to “the needs of disease prevention,” according to an official notice.

None of the city’s 320,000 people are allowed to set foot outside their homes until midday Thursday, the notice said, adding that basic necessities would be delivered by local authorities.

Residents are not allowed to use their cars without permission and must obtain official authorization to travel under “closed-loop” conditions in case of emergencies, the notice said.

The city is home to one of China’s biggest steel firms, Wuyang Iron & Steel Co., which exports to the United States, Japan and other major Western economies, according to Bloomberg.

Nearly 250 million people in China are now under some kind of virus control measures — more than double last week’s number — Japanese bank Nomura said Monday.

Persistent outbreaks and hardline official responses have dampened hopes that Beijing is ready to pivot away from the type of draconian curbs seen earlier this year, when tens of millions were confined to their homes, sometimes for weeks on end.

The country recorded 347 new domestic cases on Tuesday, more than 80 percent of which showed no symptoms, according to the National Health Commission.

Fears have grown about tighter Covid measures in Shanghai, which endured a gruelling two-month lockdown earlier this year punctuated by supply shortages and isolated protests.

Most of the megacity’s 25 million residents have been ordered to get two Covid tests between Tuesday and Thursday, as daily case figures continue to hover in the double digits.

In eastern Anhui province, where authorities last week plunged 1.7 million people into lockdown, residents of one county were due to undergo a 15th round of mass testing on Tuesday, according to an official notice.

RELATED STORIES:

China lockdown worries hit Asian equity, crude markets

Fresh Covid outbreaks put millions under lockdown in China