China tightens restrictions as rise in virus cases reported

Everyone in a district of 18 million people in Chinas southern metropolis of Guangzhou was ordered to stay home for virus testing Saturday and a major city in the southwest closed schools as another rise in infections was reportedNationwide a total of 11773 infections were reported over the previous 24 hours including 10351 people with no symptoms Chinas numbers are low but the past weeks increase is challenging a zeroCovid strategy that aims to isolate every infected personThe quarantine for travelers arriving in China is to be shortened to a minimum of five days from seven as part of changes in controls announced Friday to reduce their cost and disruption But the ruling Communist Party said it would stick to zero Covid even as other countries ease travel and other curbs and try to shift to a longterm strategy of living with the virusA total of 3775 infections were found in Guangzhou a city of 13 million including 2996 in people who showed no symptoms according to the National Health Commission That was an increase from Fridays total of 3030 including 2461 without symptomsPeople in the Guangzhous Haizhu district were told to visit the nearest testing station but otherwise stay home the district government announced on its social media account One member of each household was allowed out to buy foodAlso Saturday health officials warned the decision to modify antivirus controls didnt mean they were endingAlso read Measles outbreak Highlevel team to visit Govandi tomorrowUnder the changes some foreign businesspeople and athletes visiting China would be allowed to move within a contained area without a quarantine period Rules on who counts as a contact of infected people are to be more focused reducing the number affectedThis is not relaxation nor lying flat but more accurate and scientific prevention and treatment said the NHC deputy director Lei Haichao Lei said the goal is toprevent the epidemic and minimize the impact on economic and social developmentEconomists and public health experts say Beijing might be able to start winding down zero Covid in mid2023 but needs to vaccinate tens of millions of elderly people before controls on foreign visitors coming into China endNationwide people who want to enter supermarkets and other public buildings are required to show negative results of a virus test taken as often as once a dayThat allows authorities to spot infections in people with no symptomsGuangzhou 120 kilometers 75 miles north of Hong Kong shut down schools and bus and subway service across much of the city as case numbers rose over the past week Flights to the Chinese capital Beijing and other major cities have been canceledIn the southwest the industrial city of Chongqing closed schools in its Beibei district which has 840000 people Residents were barred from leaving a series of apartment compounds in its Yubei district but the city gave no indication how many were affectedPublic frustration and complaints that some people are left without access to food or medicine have boiled over into protests and clashes with local officials in some areasElsewhere mass testing also was being carried out Saturday in eight districts with a total of 66 million people in the central city of ZhengzhouAccess to an industrial zone of Zhengzhou that is home to the worlds biggest iPhone factory was suspended last week following outbreaks Apple Inc warned deliveries of its new iPhone 14 model would be delayedDespite efforts to ease damage to the worlds secondlargest economy forecasters say business and consumer activity is weakening after growth rebounded to 39 pc over a year earlier in the three months ending in September from the first halfs 22 pc Economists have cut their forecast of Chinas annual economic growth to as low as 3 pc which would be among the lowest in decadesPresident Xi Jinpings government has refused to import foreign vaccines and defied requests to release more information about the source of the virus which was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever