BEIJING – An increase in Covid-19 cases has spurred blockages in the manufacturing hub of Guangzhou in southern China, increasing financial pressure that has disrupted global supply chains and dramatically slowed growth in the world’s second largest economy.
Residents of districts with nearly 5 million people have been ordered to stay home until at least Sunday, with one member of each family allowed to go out once a day to purchase basic necessities, local authorities said Wednesday.
The order came after the densely populated city of 13 million people reported more than 2,500 new cases in the past 24 hours. Public transportation has been suspended and classes have been suspended in much of Guangzhou, while flights to Beijing and other major cities have been canceled, according to state media.
China has maintained its strict “zero Covid” policy despite the relatively low number of cases and the absence of new deaths.
The country’s borders remain largely closed, and internal travel and trade are subject to ever-changing quarantine regulations.
The tight restrictions have triggered occasional clashes between residents and local Communist Party officials, who are threatened with sanctions if reported cases in their areas of jurisdiction exceed levels deemed acceptable.
The party led by President Xi Jinping has rejected appeals from the United Nations World Health Organization to relax regulations, refused to import foreign vaccines, and challenged requests for more information on the source of the virus, which was detected for the first time in the city of Wuhan, in central China, in late 2019.
