China is grappling with a resurgence of coronavirus outbreaks, with cities across the country reimposing restrictions as authorities rush to stamp out cases of the more infectious Omicron variant that has become dominant in the west.
Macau, which is undergoing its worst Covid-19 outbreak yet, on Saturday announced a weeklong closure of all non-essential businesses, including casinos, from Monday. Xi’an, a city of 13mn that endured a severe lockdown this year, entered a “circuit breaker” last week to stamp out the BA.5 subvariant.
Eleven Chinese cities are now under full or partial lockdowns, affecting 114.8mn people, or 8.1 per cent of the population, according to data released last week by Japanese investment bank Nomura.
Analysts said the cycle of outbreaks, mass testing, lockdowns and easing would continue under President Xi Jinping’s stringent zero-Covid policy, although authorities were trying to implement more targeted measures such as shorter quarantines and limited lockdowns, according to an analysis from Goldman Sachs.
Macau’s Casino Lisboa, owned by the late gambling tycoon Stanley Ho’s SJM Holdings, was temporarily sealed on Tuesday with 500 people inside after it was linked to a cluster of 13 cases. Hotels, including Melco’s Grand Hyatt and Sands China’s Sheraton, have been converted into quarantine facilities.
The cycle of restrictions has also continued to weigh on China’s economy. Data released on Saturday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed consumer prices rose to 2.5 per cent year on year in June on higher energy and pork prices, up from 2.1 per cent in May. Factory gate price growth cooled, rising 6.1 per cent in June from a year earlier, the slowest rate in 15 months.
Shanghai, China’s financial hub, is also struggling to rein in cases just weeks after reopening from a two-month lockdown, with a mass testing campaign ordered after a cluster of more than 70 cases was linked to a karaoke bar, according to local authorities.
Officials have begun assigning risk levels to subdistricts and even streets in an effort to impose targeted quarantines on residential compounds and spare most of the city’s 26mn residents. Just one new case was reported outside lockdown on Saturday, while 59 cases were reported among people already in quarantine.
Tensions nevertheless remain high. One Shanghai resident who asked not to be named told the Financial Times that she felt “frustration” and “disappointment” at the return of restrictions. The resident, who works for an international company, endured the lockdown in March and April. “I personally assume that this will be the ‘new normal’,” she said.
Beijing was forced to walk back a vaccine mandate for public places after a popular backlash caused officials to scrap the rule less than two days after it was announced last week.
Nearly 90 per cent of China’s 1.4bn people have received two vaccine doses, according to state media, but the rate for the elderly is much lower. Domestic vaccines using inactivated virus technology are also less effective than the mRNA jabs produced by companies such as BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna. Chinese authorities have not authorised foreign mRNA vaccines and homegrown mRNA candidates remain in trial stages.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong warned of a two-fold jump in infections within weeks after recording more than 3,000 new cases on Thursday, the highest daily figure since April.
The surge came as local authorities said they were considering reopening the border with the mainland and shortening mandatory quarantine for arrivals, which has stifled the city’s business community. Hong Kong this week also axed a controversial flight ban mechanism under which 100 flights had been barred this year.
Elsewhere in Asia, case tallies reached recent highs after countries loosened entry restrictions in a bid to encourage tourism and boost local economies.
Indonesia reported more than 2,800 cases on Thursday, its highest number in more than three months. The government said it would require tourists to have received a booster shot.
Singapore, which has received an influx of expatriates from regional rival Hong Kong, reported more than 12,000 cases on Tuesday, but authorities in the city-state have downplayed the probability of new measures.
Additional reporting by Edward White in Wellington, Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong, John Reed in New Delhi and Oliver Telling in Singapore
