Nearly 30 million people were confined in China on Tuesday (15.03.2022) in the face of the biggest outbreak of COVID-19 in two years, prompting authorities to carry out mass testing on a scale not seen since the start of the pandemic. pandemic.
The country reported 5,280 positive cases in the last 24 hours on Tuesday, the highest number since the first wave of the pandemic in early 2020, according to data from the National Health Commission (CNS). At least 13 Chinese cities face full lockdowns and several others have partial lockdowns.
Through draconian restrictions, the country managed to contain infections after the first wave in late 2019 in the city of Wuhan, but recently faced multiple outbreaks linked to the arrival of the omicron variant.
Tuesday is the sixth consecutive day that the balance of daily cases exceeds a thousand infections. The numbers are small compared to other countries, but under China’s “zero Covid” strategy, even the smallest outbreak is met with harsh measures.
The northeastern province of Jilin was the hardest hit, with more than 3,000 cases on Tuesday, according to CNS. The provincial capital of Changchum, population nine million, as well as other cities, remain under stay-at-home orders.
The Jilin governor promised to do his best to “reach community Covid zero within a week,” state media reported.
The technological metropolis of Shenzhen (south), with 17 million inhabitants, located at the gates of Hong Kong, was also confined.
These measures caused the closure of numerous factories in the city, including that of the Taiwanese giant Foxconn, the main supplier of Apple.
gs (afp, ap)
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