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China's Shenzhen to Adopt Tiered COVID-19 Measures

China's southern tech hub of Shenzhen said it will adopt tiered antivirus restriction measures starting Monday, while the southwestern metropolis of Chengdu announced an extension of lockdown curbs, as the country grapples with fresh outbreaks.To get more news about china coronavirus update, you can visit shine news official website.

Shenzhen, which went into a weekend lockdown Saturday, announced a new round of COVID-19 testing and vowed to "marshal all available resources, mobilize all forces, and take all possible measures" to stamp out the pandemic.

Separately, Chengdu, which placed its 21 million people under lockdown Thursday, said the city will keep curbs in place for most of the city, and will conduct more mass testing from Monday to Wednesday.

China is sticking to its stringent zero-COVID policy, even as most other countries have relaxed restrictions and chosen to live with the virus. As a result, fresh outbreaks have become a major risk to the world's second-biggest economy.

Currently, 33 cities are under partial or full lockdowns, affecting more than 65 million residents, according to an estimate by Chinese financial magazine Caixin.

In Shenzen, a city of 18 million people, an official said the risks were still considerable.

"Currently, the city's COVID situation is severe and complex. The number of new infections remains relatively high and community transmission risk still exists," Lin Hancheng, a Shenzhen public health official, told a news conference Sunday.

The city reported 89 new locally transmitted COVID infections for Sept 3, compared with 87 a day earlier.

Based on the results of the weekend testing, Shenzhen will classify its areas into three categories, reflecting low, medium and high risk of infection, Lin said.

In areas deemed low risk, the city will remove restrictions that confined much of its population to residential compounds over the weekend, though lockdowns will remain in place in 'high' and 'medium' risk neighborhoods.

In areas where infections were found, temporary restrictions would be prolonged for three days.

Major districts of Futian, Nanshan and Longhua said that entertainment centers like cinemas and KTVS would remain closed, and restaurants would allow dining in at half capacity.

The Nanyuan neighborhood of the Futian District will continue to be treated as a medium-risk area due to the relatively high number of positive cases detected, Lin said.

Separately, Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, said it will continue to impose COVID lockdown curbs in most of the city.

Even in two areas where life was allowed to come back to normal — Xinjin District and Qionglai City — indoor dining will continue to be banned, while public activities such as conferences and performances will be strictly restricted

Shanghai reports 1st deaths from current COVID-19 outbreak

Shanghai authorities on Monday reported the first COVID-19 deaths of the latest outbreak in China's most populous and wealthiest city.To get more news about shanghai covid update, you can visit shine news official website.

All three who died were elderly, had underlying diseases such as diabetes and hypertension and had not been vaccinated against the coronavirus, city Health Commission inspector Wu Ganyu told journalists.

"After entering hospital, their conditions grew worse and they died after attempts to save them were unsuccessful," Wu said.

The deaths raise to 4,641 the number of people China says have succumbed to the disease since the virus was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019.

Most of Shanghai's 25 million residents are being confined to their homes for a third week as China continues to employ a "zero-tolerance" strategy to curb the outbreak, demanding isolation of anyone possibly infected.China on Monday said 23,362 people had tested positive for the virus over the previous 24 hours, most of them showing no symptoms and almost all of them in Shanghai.

The city has reported more than 300,000 cases since late March. Shanghai began easing restrictions last week, although officials have warned the city doesn't have its outbreak under control.

Shanghai, which is home to China's biggest port and most important stock exchange, appeared unprepared for such a massive undertaking.

Residents ran short of food and daily necessities while enduring lockdown conditions, and tens of thousands of people put under medical observation have been sequestered in crowded facilities where lights are always on, garbage bins overflow, food is inadequate and hot showers nonexistent.Anyone who tests positive but has few or no symptoms is required to spend one week in a quarantine facility.

Concerns have risen about the economic impact of the government's hardline policy.

China's economic growth edged up to a still-weak 4.8% over a year earlier in the first three months of 2022 as lockdowns cut production in major industrial cities. Official data showed growth accelerated from the previous quarter's 4%.

While the ruling Communist Party has urged more targeted prevention measures, local officials have routinely adopted stringent regulations, possibly for fear of being fired or penalized over outbreaks in their areas.

In the city of Wenzhou, which has seen only a handful of cases, authorities have authorized rewards of up to 50,000 yuan ($7,800) for information about people who falsify their health status, online news site The Paper reported.

China admits COVID-19 situation ‘grim and complex’

Chinese health officials on Tuesday admitted the COVID-19 situation in the country is “grim and complex” amid a dramatic rise in daily cases.“The COVID-19 epidemic situation in China is grim and complex, making it more difficult to prevent and control,” said an official of the National Health Commission.To get more news about coronavirus update china, you can visit shine news official website.

Out of 31 provinces in China, 28 have reported coronavirus cases since the past week.The official, however, said “the affected provinces and cities are dealing with it in an orderly and favorable way; thus, the epidemic overall is still under control.”

The Chinese mainland has reported 15,000 coronavirus cases during this month, the official said.“With an increasing number of positive cases, the difficulty in preventing and controlling the disease is also increased,” the official added.

Earlier, health officials said China on Tuesday reported 5,154 cases, including 1,647 “silent carriers”.The infections has surged significantly for the first time in two years since the pandemic began, when the authorities imposed a strict 77-day lockdown to contain the coronavirus.

The Jilin province in northeastern China, which has a population of more than 21 million people, has been the hardest hit by the latest wave of infections, with 4,067 coronavirus cases reported there alone. The region has been placed under lockdown.

As Jilin faces a “severe and complicated situation,” Zhang Li, deputy chief of the provincial health commission, said the administration will take “emergency unconventional measures” to push for a nucleic test across the province, state-run daily Global Times reported.

Changchun and Jilin cities are undergoing a rapid spread of infection.Several cities, including Shanghai and Shenzhen, have imposed strict lockdowns, forcing local and international manufacturing companies to shut their businesses as part of the measures to contain the virus’ spread.

Authorities in the Jilin province have built five makeshift hospitals in Changchun and Jilin with a capacity of 22,880 beds to manage the COVID-19 patients.To combat COVID-19, around 7,000 soldiers have been mobilized to assist with anti-virus measures, while 1,200 retired soldiers have volunteered to work in quarantine and test sites, according to the report.

Shoppers have returned to the malls of Beijing as the Chinese capital relaxes pandemic restrictions after declaring a small but persistent COVID-19 outbreak effectively under control.
A partial reopening of stores and offices in Beijing on Sunday was welcomed by a weary populace and struggling shopkeepers eager for life to return to normal.
Coupled with a gradual easing of restrictions in Shanghai, it signalled the worst was over in the twin outbreaks in China's most prominent cities.The lockdowns and other restrictions under China's "zero-COVID" strategy have increasingly frustrated residents as they see other countries ease up and re-open their borders.
Some have resisted and staged protests at apartment complexes and university dormitories, in an authoritarian country where people think twice about speaking out publicly because of possible repercussions.
Restaurants remain closed in Beijing, except for takeout and delivery, and many people in Shanghai still can only go out with special passes and for a limited time period, even as the number of new cases has plummeted.Officials tend to err on the side of caution under a system that readily punishes them for lax enforcement if outbreaks flare up or come back.
China recorded 293 new cases on Saturday, of which 78 were among people who had arrived from overseas.
Shanghai had the most non-imported cases, with 122, and Beijing had 21. That's in a population of more than 20 million people in both cities.
Beijing allowed public parks, gyms and cinemas to reopen on Sunday, all at 50 per cent of their capacity.
A portion of the Great Wall in a rural part of Beijing, about 60 kilometres from downtown, reopens to visitors on Monday.