China’s COVID-19 crisis continues as many shops and other businesses closed on Sunday amid rising cases in the region. According to reports, experts have warned that of many thousands of new coronavirus cases as anger over China’s previous covid policies gave way to worry about coping with infection.
On Wednesday, China dropped the majority of its strict Covid curbs after unprecedented protests against them last month, but cities that were already battling with their most severe outbreaks, like Beijing, saw a sharp decrease in economic activity after rules such as regular testing were scrapped.
According to a report by Reuters, anecdotal evidence suggests that many businesses have been forced to close as infected workers quarantine at home while many other people are deciding not to go out because of the higher risk of infection.
Zhong Nanshan, a prominent Chinese epidemiologist, told state media that the Omicron strain of the virus prevalent in China was highly transmissible and one infected person could spread it to as many as 18 others.
“We can see that hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of people are infected in several major cities,” Zhong said as quoted by Reuters.
With regular covid testing of Beijing residents scrapped and reserved only for groups such as health workers, official tallies for new cases have plunged, as per Reuters.
On Saturday, health authorities reported 1,661 new infections in Beijing, down 42 percent from 3,974, a day before national policies were dramatically relaxed.
Reportedly, economists widely expect China’s road to economic health to be uneven as shocks such as labour crunches due to workers calling in sick delay a full-fledged recovery for some time yet.
According to Capital Economics, China’s economy may grow 1.6 percent in the first quarter of 2023 from a year earlier, and 4.9 percent in the second.
According to Reuters, epidemiologist Zhong also said it would be some months before a return to normal.
Meanwhile, China also reportedly said that it would retire an app used to track Covid-19 contacts, marking a major milestone in the country’s rapid turn away from its ‘Zero-Covid’ policy.
The app will go offline this week, according to an official WeChat post, after more than two years in operation, AFP reported. The app, “Communications Itinerary Card”, was used to track whether someone has been to a high-risk area based on their phone signal.
The decision comes days after China announced an end to large-scale lockdowns, mandatory quarantine, and a broad relaxation of testing measures.
(With inputs from agencies)
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