BEIJING —
China on Saturday reported its highest number of
coronavirus cases since May, with millions in lockdown this weekend as
authorities persist with their zero-COVID policy.
اضافة اعلان
Using snap lockdowns, long quarantines, and mass
testing, China is the last major economy still pursuing the goal of eliminating
outbreaks, even as the strategy takes a heavy toll on the economy.
China reported 450 local infections on Saturday, up
from 432 a day earlier. Most cases were asymptomatic.
The rising wave of cases led to fresh restrictions
this week in some parts of the country.
Lanzhou, the capital of northwestern
Gansu province,
ordered its 4.4 million residents to stay home starting Wednesday, and a county
in Anhui province went into lockdown from Friday.
Beihai in the southern Guangxi region on Saturday
also announced lockdowns in parts of two districts that are home to more than
800,000 people.
“Currently, the epidemic prevention and control
situation in Beihai city is severe and complicated, and the risk of hidden
transmission in the community is relatively high,” said a government notice
announcing the restrictions.
Earlier in the week, the steelmaking hub of Wugang
in central Henan province announced a three-day lockdown over a single COVID
case.
The fast-spreading
Omicron variant of the virus has
been a major challenge for Chinese authorities, as they try to limit the
economic damage caused by COVID restrictions.
China logged its slowest second-quarter growth rate since
the initial COVID outbreak, with GDP expanding just 0.4 percent on-year.
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