[ad_1]
Millions under lockdown. Mass testing. Deserted streets and public transport at a standstill. Scenes of daily life in many Chinese cities today eerily recall the original Wuhan outbreak of late 2019 and early 2020, when coronavirus and COVID-19 first made headlines around the world.
But, more than two years later, China is battling a renewed surge in infections, fueled by the Omicron BA. 2 sub-variant, also known as stealth Omicron. The use of tough containment measures, from a playbook dating to the very beginnings of the pandemic, underscores official commitment to a zero-COVID strategy that shows no signs of wavering.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]
In most other countries, China’s caseloads would not be considered a national emergency: authorities on Mar. 15 reported 1,860 symptomatic infections and 1,338 asymptomatic ones. But the nation’s elderly population is vulnerable—by some estimates there are 15 million people over 80 in China who have not been vaccinated—while the number of ICU beds per 100,000 population is low by the standards of advanced economies. Fearful that stealth Omicron could lead to an uncontrollable outbreak, with fatalities potentially numbered in the millions, authorities have pulled out all the stops. Makeshift hospitals and isolation facilities are mushrooming.
Read More: How Hong Kong Became China’s Biggest COVID-19 Problem
The epicenter of infection is the northeastern province of Jilin, on the border with North Korea and home to 24 million people. On Mar. 14, the entire province was put under lockdown—the first time the measure had been applied to a whole province since the Hubei lockdown of 2020.
The day before, the 17.5 million inhabitants of the city of Shenzhen were also told to stay home. Its outbreak has been sparked by imported cases from neighboring Hong Kong, where experts estimate that 3.6 million people—almost half the population—have had the virus.
Shenzhen is an important tech hub, home to major players like Oppo,…
[ad_2]
Source : time
