Japanese consul in Shanghai expresses concerns over Covid-19 containment

the main representative of Japan in Shanghai urged China’s most populous city to address Japanese companies’ concerns about losses and other disruptions caused by lockdowns intended to contain a Covid-19 outbreak.

The Consul’s letter-General Shuichi Akamatsu, published on the website of the consulate on Saturday, occurs when most of the 25 million inhabitants of Shanghai remains under strict lockdowns that have hampered economic activity in the financial center.

The city recorded a record 3,590 symptomatic cases this Saturday (16).

The US State Department on Monday ordered non-emergency US government workers to leave the consulate due to the increase in the number of virus and China’s measures to control its spread.

The government in Shanghai did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters on Saturday. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has classified concerns from the State Department with the control measures of virus corona in Shanghai as “unfounded allegations”.

Akamatsu acknowledged the city’s efforts to contain the spread of the virus. virus corona in the letter to the deputy mayor, dated Friday (15).

“However, with the extension of measures to control the virus, the situation of production and operations that cannot function normally has lasted more than a month,” he said. “The impact on business activities is clearly becoming more severe by the day.”

Akamatsu cited research published on Friday by a Japanese chamber representing more than 2,300 companies, which indicated the member concerns about virus restrictionsincluding disrupted supply chains, difficulty securing food supplies, and an inability to make payments, including employee salaries due to bank closures.

“There is no room for optimism about the current reality,” he said, adding that the lack of information about when the lockdowns will end has made it impossible for companies to do business.

“In addition to the losses and impact on employees from work and production stoppages that go on for more than a month, future uncertainty has also become a major factor affecting companies,” he said.