China re-opens more areas at risk for Covid spread

People buy medicines from a drug store in Beijing Monday. Pic/AFP

China has slashed the number of locations deemed at high risk of wider COVID outbreaks, re-opening locked down areas including one hosting a key factory of an Apple supplier. The number of high-risk areas tumbled to around 4,500 on Monday, official data showed, down 85pc from more than 30,000 on December 7 before the latest policy shift was announced.

China has dropped testing prior to many activities, reined in quarantine and was preparing on Monday to de-activate a mobile app used to track the travel histories of a population of 1.4 billion people. A district in the city of Zhengzhou in central China where iPhone supplier Foxconn has a vast facility declared on Monday that it had released all high-risk zones from lockdown. Last month, thousands of workers fled the Foxconn facility on fears of COVID lockdowns, curtailing production.

Also Read: Controls eased, China now struggles with infections

High-risk areas without new infections for five consecutive days should be released from lockdown, according to one of China's latest protocols released on December 7. Local authorities have also been warned not to arbitrarily expand the scope of lockdowns or prolong them. People queued outside fever clinics at hospitals for COVID-19 checks on Monday, a new sign of the rapid spread of symptoms.

In comments on Monday in the state-backed newspaper Shanghai Securities News, Zhang Wenhong, head of a team of experts, said the current outbreak could peak in a month, though an end to the pandemic might be three to six months away. Zhang's team said that despite the surge, the current Omicron strain did not cause long-term damage and people should be optimistic. "We are about to walk out of the tunnel; air, sunshine, free travel, all waiting for us," the post said.

4,500
No of high-risk areas in China

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever