BEIJING — The Delta variant poses new risks for
the world's second-biggest economy as it spreads from the coast to
China's
inland cities and presents fresh challenges to authorities who have for months
managed to avert any widespread outbreak of the
coronavirus.
اضافة اعلان
Barely a month after disrupting industry in the southern
export hub of Guangdong, cases of the Delta variant were detected in Nanjing,
capital of Jiangsu province on the coast. The infections were traced back to a
flight from Russia.
Since Nanjing confirmed its first Delta cases on July 20,
numerous cities in southern China and a few in the north including Beijing have
reported infections. The tally of locally transmitted cases stood at 353 as of
Sunday.
It was not immediately clear whether Nanjing was the source
of all the infections, as some authorities have yet to disclose the outcome of
their virus-tracing efforts.
Jiangsu, the province with the second-largest economic
output after Guangdong in 2020, is by far the worst-hit, accounting for about
80 percent of the confirmed cases.
The emergence of the variant, which is more transmissible
than the original strain first detected in the city of Wuhan in late 2019, has
seen the return of tough counter-epidemic measures.
Many cities have warned against non-essential travel,
required proof of negative tests for those who do travel, and launched
mass-testing for the virus.
Policymakers are under pressure to ensure that while
populations are protected, economies are not excessively strained.
China's overall economy is not invulnerable. It grew more
slowly than expected in April-June, due to persistently high raw material
prices, cautious consumer spending and a subdued real estate market.
"The Delta variant is the biggest test of China's
zero-COVID strategy since the initial outbreak last year," said Julian
Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics.
"But given the country's track record in dealing with
the virus so far, our assumption is that they will quash the outbreak before it
gets out of control. Of course, doing so will come at some economic cost."
Yangzhou, near Nanjing, has been battling rising coronavirus
cases since last Wednesday. Many factories and logistics firms in the city of 5
million have been shut as employees joined queues of people to get tested, some
up to three times a week.
"We cannot deliver goods because the delivery firm
informed us that they've suspended their services," said a manager of a
toy factory surnamed Wang.
"In the past few days, many places have been gradually
locked down. We were officially told to stop operations today, and all our
employees didn't come to the factory."
Tourism vulnerable
Tourism in some smaller cities could take a hit in August,
usually a peak travel season due to the summer school break.
Zhangjiajie, where dramatic stone pillars inspired the
Hallelujah Mountains in the 2009 blockbuster "Avatar", has seen an
outbreak, linked to Nanjing, traced to a theatrical performance at a tourist
site on July 22.
Zhong Nanshan, a coronavirus expert who helped shape China's
COVID-19 response, told a conference on the weekend that he was not too worried
about the ability of big cities, like Nanjing, to tackle the virus with their
"excellent" control systems, state media reported.
But there were questions about the ability of smaller
places, like Zhangjiajie, with limited resources when suddenly having to test
and trace the 2,000 people in the audience for the show as well as their close
contacts, he said.
Zhangjiajie, nestled in the mountains of Hunan province, has
gone into a semi-lockdown, closed tourist sites and indoor entertainment
venues, and told people to avoid unnecessary trips.
"All staff at our hotel must take nucleic acid tests
every two days," said a front desk attendant surnamed Li at the
Zhangjiajie Huatian Hotel.
The hotel is not open to the public and its online
reservation system is suspended.
A staffer surnamed Yin at Zhangjiajie China International
Travel Agency said everyone at her agency had been sent home for a
"vacation".
"We're waiting for the notice on when we can start
working again," she said.
Read more Region & World
.jpg)
.jpg)
