Beijing virus infections remain elevated in threat to Covid zero
Beijing recorded more than 50 Covid cases for the fifth day in a row as authorities crack down on venues linked to the outbreak, including starting a criminal probe into management of a bar at the center of the latest flareup.
The capital reported 63 infections for Tuesday, following 74 on Monday. Cases have spiked in recent days, having dropped to single-digits last week. The management of a bar that has been linked to at least 287 cases is under criminal investigation for potentially breaching Covid control and prevention protocols.
Shops and restaurants in the Sanlitun area of the Chaoyang district in eastern Beijing, where the bar is located, have been closed since Monday. With daily cases remaining high, authorities may be prompted to delay Thursday’s planned reopening. At least two shopping malls in Chaoyang were also temporarily shut, as infected people appear to have visited restaurants there.
The jump in cases and reinstatement of restrictions just days after they started to be eased shows the difficulties of stamping out the more contagious virus variants, as China continues to prosecute its Covid zero strategy. The approach leaves the country stuck in a cycle of disruptive shutdowns and tentative reopenings that hint at lingering economic pain.
In Beijing, most schools delayed a reopening that was planned for Monday, while all sports competitions were halted. Authorities earlier this week closed more bars, movie theaters, gyms and other venues deemed to be “potential magnifiers” of the outbreak.
Shanghai reported 15 cases for Tuesday, from 17 on Monday. Three of the infections were found outside government-mandated quarantine as the virus continues to percolate in the community. The city’s Songjiang district will conduct another round of mass testing on Wednesday.
While cases in two of the country’s most important cities are still below levels seen in late May, when stricter curbs were in place, authorities have been quick to re-impose limitations after earlier trumpeting their success in bringing the outbreak under control.
Data released Wednesday pointed to a mixed economic recovery. Retail sales, while better than April’s plunge, slid 6.7 percent year-on-year as regular virus testing and other stringent controls continued to hinder consumer activity. Industrial output rose, reversing from a drop last month, while the property market continued to slump.
China is continuing to try to wipe out cases, even as most of the rest of the world treats the virus as endemic and opens up their borders and economies.
In a sign of the hardline approach China is taking with the virus, a court in the northwestern city of Xining sentenced one person to three years in prison and punished two others for breaking infectious disease prevention laws after they returned from Shanghai in late March.
US companies still not fully operating
The majority of US businesses in Shanghai have resumed operations following the city’s tough coronavirus lockdown, but their levels of activity are well below normal due to continued restrictions on movement.
Just 31 percent of manufacturing and services companies surveyed by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai last week said they were fully operational. Of those operating at less than full capacity, most reported that staff found it difficult to travel to work.
The survey of about 130 firms highlights Shanghai’s slow emergence from a strict lockdown that confined most residents to their homes for two months starting in March. Officials are still seeking to eliminate virus transmission under the country’s “zero Covid” policy.
“A lot of progress has been made in the past two weeks, but we are not yet at ‘normal’,” said chamber president eric Zheng.
The city officially re-opened at the beginning of June, but residents remain cautious and most districts suspended indoor restaurant services this week after new coronavirus cases were found.
The chamber of commerce’s survey did indicate an improvement in business conditions since early May, when surveys of Japanese and German businesses showed the majority of firms hadn’t resumed operations.
Two thirds of the American chamber’s member firms are now operating at above 75 percent capacity, according to the survey. Just 3 percent of firms in the American chamber’s survey said they hadn’t resumed work.
China’s lockdowns since March have alienated many foreign businesses, given the gap with more relaxed policies in their home countries.
About half of the companies surveyed by the American Chamber said they had delayed or decreased investments in China as a result of Shanghai’s lockdown, with the other half saying that the lockdown had not changed their investment plans or that they weren’t sure what the impact would be.
About a third of companies said they would maintain operations in China but move some suppliers or factories producing global products outside China. Just 4 percent said the lockdown had led them to consider moving a majority of operations outside of the country in the near future.
Other data shows economic activity in Shanghai is far from pre-lockdown levels. About 55 percent of Chinese listed companies that announced the suspension of operations in Shanghai said they had resumed them by last week, according to an analysis by China International Capital Corp.
Truck flows in Shanghai rose to the highest level since March in the week through Sunday, but were still just 53 percent of the average level in 2019, according to data from logistics company G7 Connect.