The highest daily number of new cases coronavirus six months ago, China announced today. New cases of local transmission increased to 3,871 yesterday, according to data released by the National Health Commission, the highest number since early May when Shanghai was facing its worst coronavirus outbreak and Beijing was trying to get its own surge in cases under control.
In the nearly three years since the pandemic broke out, China has stuck to its strict policy of containing COVID-19, which has caused mounting economic damage and widespread frustration. The limitations and lockdowns they became more common with the spread of the highly contagious Omicron strain. China’s borders remained largely closed, APE-BPE reports, citing Reuters.
Bloomberg News reported today that China is working on plans to scrap a system that penalizes airlines when they carry cases of the virus into the country, according to people with knowledge of the matter, noting that the effort is a sign that authorities are looking for a way to to limit the impact of COVID policies.
Videos released on social media today showed protests in a compound in Wuhan’s Hanyang district last night, with angry residents destroying tents set up by aid authorities and calling for an end to the lockdown. The gathered residents in the videos, the authenticity of which Reuters could not independently verify, can be heard chanting “Give us freedom, give us freedom!”
On Wednesday, an industrial park that houses a Foxconn iPhone factory entered a seven-day lockdown due to COVID, in a move likely to increase pressure on the Apple supplier as it tries to quell worker discontent, APE-MPE reports, citing Reuters.
The lockdown marks a re-tightening of measures in the city of Zhengzhou, which unexpectedly lifted a partial lockdown of its nearly 13 million residents just the day before.
Also this week, posts about how much went viral on social media food prices quickly rose in Xining, the capital of Qinghai province, as well as the lack of access to daily necessities due to the lockdowns.
Video on the Weibo platform showed two residents giving cartons of milk and bags of vegetables to an elderly woman, who the post said could not buy food for three days after the city closed most shops in late October.
On Tuesday, a three-year-old boy died of carbon monoxide poisoning in the northwestern city of Lanzhou Chinawith his father complaining about the delay in getting help and the fact that he couldn’t leave his house due to the lockdown in the city.
Source: News Beast
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
