One of the most extensive curfews since the start of the pandemic has been imposed, as the coronavirus cases surged to a record high in China. Multinational companies in the country also stopped some of their operations.
The number of coronavirus cases in China has exceeded 5000. Most of the cases occurred in Jilin province in the northeastern part of the country.
Thereupon, the entire Jilin province, where 24 million people live, was placed under quarantine.
It is the first time a province in China has been fully quarantined since the lockdown restrictions imposed in Wuhan and Hebei at the start of the pandemic.
Residents of Jilin are prohibited from going elsewhere. Anyone who wants to leave the state must also get permission from the police.
A quarantine was initiated in the city of Langfang, near the capital Beijing, and in the cities of Dongguan in the southern Guangdong province, with immediate effect.
Millions of people are again facing curfews in many places, including the technology center Shenzhen.
12.5 million people living in the southern city of Shenzhen were also quarantined for five days. Buses and subways do not operate in the city.
The work of international companies is disrupted
Chinese authorities have asked some companies to work from home if they are not working in essential fields.
Some companies, such as Toyota, Volkswagen and Apple supplier Foxconn, had to stop some of their operations due to the quarantine.
Foxconn, which produces iPhone phones for Apple, announced that it is halting operations in the city of Shenzhen “until the day when local authorities will allow it again”.
Foxconn, which has production centers in several different parts of China, said in a statement to the BBC that it is trying to minimize the effects of the quarantine.
Foxconn’s manufacturing center in Zhengzhou is the world’s largest iPhone factory. Since Zhengzhou is not under quarantine, the factory continues to operate.
Japanese automotive company Toyota, which closed its factory in Changchun city in Jilin province, did not provide information on when the factory will open.
German automotive company Volkswagen also ceased operations in Changchun.
Observers think companies can handle the glitches after all. Yeang Cheng Ling, investment adviser at DBS Bank in Singapore, told the BBC “there have been closures like this before, but once the number of Covid cases was under control, everywhere has reopened”.
Grace Chen, from the multinational investment bank UBS, also said that Shenzhen is not a very large production center for suppliers, and that if Shanghai and its vicinity are covered under quarantine, there will be worry.
BBC Shanghai correspondent Robin Brant states that China has implemented comprehensive measures as if it has returned to the first days of the pandemic.
‘**Zero Covid**’ policy
The goal is to maintain the “Zero Covid” policy.
However, the emergence of the Omicron variant has significantly affected China’s efforts to contain the pandemic.
More cases have spread in China since the beginning of this year than in all of 2021.
China’s well-known epidemic disease specialist, Zhang Venhong, in a widely shared article on social media, noted that “the most difficult period in the last two years of the fight against Covid-19” has been experienced and they are still in the early stages of the increase in cases.
The latest situation in China coincided with a period when Covid measures began to be lifted around the world.
Finally, it was reported that the cases were increasing in the UK, and the latest figures announced by the National Statistics Office showed that one out of every 25 people in the UK was infected.