China has locked down parts of central Xian, confining some of the city’s 13 million people to their homes for at least one week, and other major hubs are rolling out restrictions in a reinforcement of the country’s commitment to “zero COVID.”
While the entire city has not been shut down, some areas are being “managed” according to rules that apply to neighborhoods in China deemed to be of high or medium risk for COVID-19, according to a local media report posted on the Xian government’s official WeChat account late on Thursday.
The city had 57 high-risk areas as of Thursday, and 74 medium-risk, a separate post showed.
Photo: AP
Residents in high-risk areas need to stay at home until no new COVID-19 infections are reported for seven days and the areas are downgraded to medium risk, the Chinese National Health Commission said.
People living in medium-risk areas are restricted to movement within those neighborhoods until no new infections are reported over a seven-day period. Xian posted 37 local infections for Thursday, up from 34 the day before.
Elsewhere, Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) imposed curbs in its main iPhone assembly campus in Zhengzhou, and more Shanghai residents are facing restrictions.
The curbs come even as officials at the national level debate whether to reduce the amount of time people coming into the country must spend in mandatory quarantine.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Sunday signaled no change to the “zero COVID” approach, disappointing investors who had hoped for some signs of loosening. During a speech opening the Chinese Communist Party congress in Beijing, Xi said the rules protect people’s lives, although he did not mention the economic toll.
Shanghai, which posted 13 local infections on Thursday, stepped up virus curbs while the party congress is occurring. A growing number of apartments and residential compounds have been locked down due to positive cases.
In Henan Province, Foxconn shut cafeterias at its Zhengzhou plant, asked workers to eat in their dorm rooms and requires workers to wear secure N95 masks. The company also imposed restrictions on staff movement, closing some entrances while mandating employees commute to plants only on certain routes.
The city reported 15 new cases and has locked down one of its most-populated districts.
In the neighboring province of Anhui, Hefei reported eight new cases and shut indoor facilities including cinemas, gyms and bars to curb the spread of COVID-19, a statement from the municipal government said.
While China’s most important cities have so far avoided large-scale shutdowns, the creeping restrictions underscore a constant threat of disruption to daily life.
Rumors about a city-wide lockdown in Xian began on Thursday afternoon, leading to residents panic-buying groceries and emptying shelves in supermarkets, social media posts showed.
China reported 783 infections on Thursday, with cases holding well below a peak of nearly 2,000 earlier this month.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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