China is stepping up its Covid defenses as a key Communist Party meeting looms, restricting internal travel further as swathes of the country remain under tight lockdowns.
The National Health Commission on Thursday announced a raft of measures that will be in place until the end of next month to fight a virus that shows little sign of slowing. Authorities told citizens to minimize travel during the mid-Autumn festival next week and National Day holidays in October, ordinarily key periods for domestic tourism, and asked local governments to test all residents regularly for Covid regardless of infection levels.
Lockdowns and other mitigation measures have intensified, including in Chengdu, the country’s sixth-largest city with 21 million people, and parts of Guiyang, home to China’s biggest residential compound where some 400,000 people live in 300 buildings. Meanwhile, Beijing is tightening travel restrictions for anyone entering or leaving the capital.
The policies seem designed to reduce the risk of outbreaks before the Party Congress in mid-October in Beijing, a once-in-five-years meeting where President Xi Jinping is due to secure a precedent-breaking third term in office.
The enforcement measures, some of which reverse previous guidance, highlight yet again the government’s commitment to stamp out the virus even as the economic and social costs climb. Economists who were already turning bearish on China’s economy are now trimming growth forecasts further. Nomura Holdings Inc. expects China’s Covid Zero policy to be maintained until at least 2023.
China recorded 1,292 Covid cases for Thursday, marking more than a month with infections exceeding 1,000 a day. While low in comparison to other countries, the struggle to fully contain outbreaks underscores how difficult China’s Covid Zero policy has become in the face of ever more contagious variants.
Even in places that have made progress, the virus continues to bounce back. Shenzhen, where several districts emerged from a snap lockdown on Monday after posting as many as 87 daily infections, saw its case numbers rebound again. There were 54 infections reported for Thursday, more than double the 25 a day earlier.
Still, China is trying to ferret out all infections. At a briefing on Thursday, NHC official Wu Liangyou said every region must conduct regular PCR testing, regardless of whether they have outbreaks or not. Previously, authorities deemed such tests unnecessary.
Travel Challenges
The latest guidance to avoid travel during upcoming nationwide holidays deals another blow to Chinese tourism, a sector already hit by lockdowns in popular destinations such as Hainan and Xinjiang.
Travelers taking a plane or high-speed train need a negative Covid test result from the previous 48 hours, while people checking into hotels and visiting tourist attractions must have one from the previous 72 hours, Wu said.
The megacity of Chengdu extended its weeklong lockdown of most downtown areas on Thursday after Covid-19 cases increased. The capital of Sichuan province, it’s the biggest city to shut since Shanghai’s bruising two-month lockdown earlier this year. It reported 71 local cases for Thursday, compared to 116 Wednesday. Authorities said mass testing will continue and pledged to eliminate community spread of the virus within a week.
Lockdowns are coming more frequently, as officials adhere to Xi’s policy of wiping out Covid. The country has shut down more large and economically important cities in 2022 than at any time during the pandemic, with Shanghai’s prolonged lockdown providing a cautionary tale for other cities about waiting too long to act forcefully.
Some are struggling. Several districts in Guiyang, a key transportation hub in southwest China, and parts of Xinjiang to the north, have been locked down, with residents in both places complaining of food shortages. Guiyang officials and the Korla city government in Xinjiang apologized for failing to ensure steady supply of food and other essentials.
Sanya, the southern vacation hotspot that experienced the second-biggest Covid outbreak after Shanghai, said it achieved zero community transmission after being in lockdown for more than a month. Restrictions will be eased from Sept. 11.
Beijing, where the leadership summit will take place next month, is on high alert against flareups. It is banning travelers coming from or going to places that have reported infections in the past seven days. Small clusters have emerged at a university and a high school, and the capital reported 19 new cases for Thursday. Mass testing is underway at the schools, and some dormitories are being locked down. (Bloomberg)