BEIJING: Beijing’s COVID-19 gloom deepened on Sunday as many shops and other businesses closed, and one expert said anger over China’s previous COVID-19 policies led to worries about handling the infection. While taking the route, he warned of several thousand new corona virus cases.
China dropped its strictest COVID restrictions on Wednesday after unprecedented protests against them last month, but cities that were already battling their worst outbreaks, such as Beijing, eased rules such as regular testing. After doing this, there was a sharp decline in economic activities.
Historical evidence shows that many businesses have been forced to lock infected workers into home quarantine while many others are deciding not to go out due to the high risk of infection.
Zhong Nanshan, a prominent Chinese epidemiologist, told state media that the Omicron strain of the virus found in China is highly transmissible and an infected person can spread it to up to 18 people.
“We can see that millions or tens of thousands of people are affected in several major cities,” Zhong said.
As Beijing has scrapped routine Covid testing of residents and restricted it to groups such as health workers, the official number of new cases has dropped.
Health officials reported 1,661 new infections for Beijing on Saturday, down 42 percent from 3,974 on Dec. 6, a day before national policies were dramatically relaxed.
But evidence suggests there are many more cases in a city of about 22 million people where everyone knows someone who has caught Covid.
“In my company, the number of Covid-negative people is close to zero,” said a woman who works for a tourism and events firm in Beijing.
“We realize that this cannot be avoided – everyone will just have to work from home,” he said.
‘High Risk’
Sundays are a typical business day for shops in Beijing and are usually bustling, especially in boutique and cafe-filled spots like the historic Shichahai neighborhood.
But on Sunday, few people were out and malls in Chaoyang, Beijing’s most populous district, were virtually deserted and many salons, restaurants and retailers were closed.
Economists widely expect the road to China’s economic health to be bumpy as labor shortage shocks such as sick workers have delayed a full recovery for some time.
“The transition out of zero-COVID will eventually allow consumer spending patterns to return to normal, but the high risk of infection will keep personal spending depressed for months after reopening,” said Mark Williams, chief of Capital Economics. Asia Economist, said in a note.
According to Capital Economics, China’s economy could grow 1.6 percent in the first quarter of 2023 from a year earlier and 4.9 percent in the second.
Epidemiologist Zhong also said that it will take a few months to return to normal.
“My opinion is after March in the first half of next year,” he said.
Although China has lifted most of its domestic COVID restrictions, its international borders are still largely closed to foreigners, including tourists.
Inbound travelers are subject to five days of quarantine at central government facilities and three additional days of self-monitoring at home.
But there are even indications that this rule may change.
Asked if quarantine rules were being relaxed, staff at Chengdu’s main international airport said that whether or not someone was required to undergo a three-day home quarantine as of Saturday would depend on whether a person was infected. It will be on the authorities of the person’s neighborhood.
