Residents from the southern hub of Guangzhou will reportedly be required to undergo covid tests on Wednesday, to control the worst outbreak of infections, which has been increasing by more than 2000 for the past two days consecutively.
Since April 30, local cases in China have now peaked, and on popular social media channels, the authorities have announced that more than half of the city’s residents will have to undergo mass testing.
The ongoing round of testing comes as China fights a spike in the number of cases in various cities that are vital for the economy. This includes Beijing as well, which has recently dashed hopes that the second largest economy in the world may ease Covid-related restrictions and curbs in some time.
The local authorities are determined to follow President Jinping’s zero-covid policy, without imposing mass lockdowns, like they had to do in Shanghai at the beginning of 2022.
In Guangzhou, Haizhu district has been subjected to mass testing, as the number of cases has drastically risen there. With the rising number of cases, an initial district-wise lockdown, which was supposed to stretch from Saturday to Monday has been further extended up to Friday.
On November 8, the city of Guangzhou reported 2637 locally transmitted cases, which is higher than the 2377 cases it reported a day earlier. The city is currently undergoing one of the most serious Covid outbreaks and has accounted for almost 1/3rd of the total 8176 local cases, that the country reported on the day.
The persistent increase in the number of cases in the city, which is the capital of the Guangdong province implies that the city has overtaken Hohhot, the northern city in inner Mongolia, and has emerged as the current epicenter for Covid infections.
The current anti-covid measures are wreaking havoc on China’s economy as well. Partly owing to the rigorous Covid curbs, since, December 2020, the factory gate prices for October reportedly fell for the first time and inflation has moderated.