Beijing’s Covid-19 gloom deepened on Sunday, with many stores and other businesses closed and an expert warned of many thousands of new cases of the coronavirus as anger over past Beijing policies China to contain Covid gave way to concern about fighting infections.
The China abandoned most of its strict Covid-19 restrictions on Wednesday after unprecedented protests against them last month, but cities that were already struggling with their most severe outbreaks, such as Beijing, saw a sharp drop in activity. economic after rules such as regular testing were scrapped.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that many businesses have been forced to close because infected workers are quarantined at home, while many more people choose not to leave due to the increased risk of infection.
Zhong Nanshan, a prominent Chinese epidemiologist, told state media that the Omicron strain of the virus prevalent in China China it was highly transmissible and one infected person could spread it to up to 18 others.
“We can see that hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of people are infected in several big cities,” Zhong said.
With regular Covid testing of Beijing residents scrapped and reserved only for groups like health workers, official counts of new cases have plummeted.
Health authorities reported 1,661 new infections in Beijing on Saturday (10), down 42% from 3,974 on December 6, a day before national policies were drastically relaxed.
But evidence suggests there are far more cases in the city of nearly 22 million people, where everyone seems to know someone who has caught Covid-19.
“At my company, the number of negative people for Covid-19 is close to zero,” said one women who works for a tourism and events company in Beijing, who asked to be identified only as Nancy.
“We realized that this cannot be avoided – everyone will have to work from home,” she said.
higher risk
Sunday is a normal business day for shopping in Beijing and is generally busy, particularly in places like the historic Shichahai district, filled with boutiques and cafes.
But few people were out and about on Sunday and malls in Chaoyang, Beijing’s most populous district, were virtually deserted with many lounges, restaurants and shops closed.
Economists widely expect that the path of China to economic health is uneven, as shocks such as labor crises due to workers claiming ill health delay a full recovery for some time to come.
“The Covid-zero transition will eventually allow consumer spending patterns to return to normal, but an increased risk of infection will keep personal spending depressed for months after reopening,” said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics. , in note.
China’s economy could grow 1.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023 and 4.9% in the second, according to Capital Economics.
Epidemiologist Zhong also said it would take a few months for a return to normal.
“My opinion is in the first half of next year, after March,” he said.
Although the China has removed most of its domestic Covid restrictions, its international borders are still closed to foreigners, including tourists.
Arriving travelers undergo five days of quarantine in centralized government facilities and an additional three days of self-monitoring at home.
But there are even indications that this rule may change.
Officials at the main international airport in the city of Chengdu, asked if quarantine rules were being relaxed, said that starting Saturday, whether or not they need to comply with the three days of quarantine at home would depend on the neighborhood authorities.
Source: CNN Brasil
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