China’s Health Ministry announced 4,770 new positive cases nationwide on Tuesday.
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China’s “zero Covid” strategy is under severe strain. Faced with the worst epidemic outbreak since 2020, the Chinese authorities decreed on Tuesday March 22 the confinement of the 9 million inhabitants of the city of Shenyang, in the northeast of the country.
This industrial city, where many factories are located, including that of the German car manufacturer BMW, is the capital of Liaoning province, bordering that of Jilin, epicenter of this current epidemic wave due to the Omicron variant.
China’s Health Ministry announced 4,770 new positive cases nationwide on Tuesday. Very low figures in comparison with other countries in the world, but high for China and its “zero Covid” strategy.
The technological metropolis of Shenzhen (south), 17.5 million inhabitants, announced Monday a gradual lifting of its strict confinement, after having already relaxed restrictions to minimize the impact on factories and its port.
China’s health ministry had reported on Friday that just 51% of over-80s in mainland China had received at least two doses of the vaccine. A source of concern, because in the semi-autonomous territory of Hong Kong (south), a major epidemic outbreak is overwhelming hospitals and decimating the elderly.