Chinese authorities decreed the confinement of a city of 9 million people on Tuesday, as China faces its worst epidemic outbreak since 2020. This puts its zero Covid strategy to the test.
The industrial city of Shenyang (north-east), where many factories are located, including that of the German manufacturer BMW, now confines its inhabitants to their residences and has launched a new general screening of the population.
The city is the capital of Liaoning province, bordering that of Jilin, which is by far the epicenter of the current epidemic wave, due to the Omicron variant.
A BMW spokesman told AFP that the manufacturer’s production in Shenyang “has been adjusted or reduced in accordance with the requirements of the authorities”: on three sites, one is stopped and two will be on Wednesday.
Zero Covid
China’s Health Ministry announced 4,770 new positive cases nationwide on Tuesday. Very low figures in comparison with other countries in the world, but high for China and its zero Covid strategy.
Thanks to confinements, quarantines on arrival in the territory or even tracing of movements, the country has stemmed the epidemic for two years, allowing the Chinese to live an almost normal life.
But this strategy, which has saved human lives (officially 4,638 dead since the start of the pandemic), weighs on the economy of the Asian giant.
Targeted containment in Shanghai
In Shanghai, where the number of new positive cases is however several hundred per day, the authorities opt for very targeted confinements of buildings, instead of a general confinement of the whole city.
In Jilin, the most affected province, authorities announced on Monday that 10,000 doses of Pfizer’s anti-Covid drug had arrived. This is believed to be the first time Paxlovid has been used in China.
Since last week, the province has imposed travel restrictions. The inhabitants cannot leave their commune and several cities confine the population to their homes.