China’s COVID cases to smash records as 48 Chinese cities
currently have some form of restrictions on movements
Workers at the world's largest iPhone factory have complained about food shortages and strict quarantine rules on campus.
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| Workers wear protective gear in a Beijing neighborhood placed under lockdown in November but cities are grappling with an unrest in people. Bloomberg Via Getty Images |
China's rising Covid cases and new restrictions have caused oil
prices to fall this month as the market fears another slowdown in Chinese
economic growth and fuel demand, in addition to fears of a global recession.
China is registering 30,000 new Covid infections a day - near the
peak in April 2022 when the financial hub Shanghai was under lockdown for
weeks.
Shanghai is again restricting some movement, with travelers to the
city barred from most public spaces for five days after arriving.
The number of daily cases in China reached 29,411 on April 13 that
caused rare display of food shortages and social unrest after weeks of strict
lockdowns in Shanghai.
The escalating cases came on Wednesday in a video circulating on
social media showing fresh unrest among workers at Apple supplier Foxconn in
the industrial city of Zhengzhou.
In footage shared on video platform Kuaishou, people can be seen
smashing surveillance cameras and windows, removing barricades and arguing with
hazmat-suited officials while shouting for their pay.
Several former Foxconn workers have complained about food
shortages and strict quarantine rules on the campus, which is home to the
world's largest iPhone factory. Reuters reported that two sources with
knowledge of the matter confirmed the protest at the Zhengzhou facility but
declined to provide further details.
More than half of Wednesday's cases, including more than 26,400
asymptomatic infections, were reported in the southern and central Chinese
cities of Guangzhou and Chongqing, respectively, which have a population of
more than 35 million.
In Beijing, where authorities have closed schools, tightened
testing requirements, and restricted movement in and out of the city,
infections hit a new peak of 1,486.
Under Beijing's strict zero-covid policy, even small outbreaks can
shut down entire cities and put infected patients under strict quarantine.
The relentless policy has fueled fatigue and resentment among
large sections of the population as the pandemic approaches its third year,
sparking sporadic protests and hurting productivity in the world's
second-largest economy.
Economic growth is also set to be hit further by the escalating
restrictions, which come less than two weeks after Chinese officials signaled a
partial easing of restrictions. China announced earlier this month that a more
targeted approach to its zero-covid policy was still in the works, saying it
would limit quarantine times for incoming travelers and close proximity to
people infected with Covid-19 and close contacts will no longer be detected.
As of Monday, about 20 percent of China's economy was affected by
the latest Covid restrictions, according to Nomura analysts.
According to Larry Hu, Macquarie's chief China economist, rising
Covid cases affect the zero-covid policy, and if China still wants to achieve
zero-covid, it may have to impose another lockdown like the weeks-long strict
restrictions on Movement in Shanghai this spring.
"China may have already passed the point of no return, as it
is unlikely to achieve zero Covid again without another strict Shanghai-style
lockdown," Hu wrote in a report on Tuesday, quoted by CNBC.
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