Covid circumstances, controls unfold in China

Covid cases and controls have increased in China this month. Pictured here on October 27, 2022 is a Shanghai neighborhood that has been fenced off to control Covid.

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BEIJING — Covid controls in China have tightened over the past two weeks after more cities reported virus outbreaks.

Restrictions on business and social activities affected 9.2% of China’s gross domestic product on Thursday, up from 7% on Oct. 16, according to the Nomura model.

“Since the 20th National Party Congress began on Oct. 16, the number of domestic Covid cases has increased significantly,” the company’s Chinese chief economist Ting Lu and a team said in a report Thursday. “The national lockdown situation has gotten… significantly worse.”

For Thursday, mainland China reported 214 Covid cases with symptoms and 1,123 without. The infections have been reported in well over 20 of China’s 31 provincial-level regions.

Among the many nationwide outbreaks, infections in the capital forced Universal Beijing Resort to temporarily close starting Wednesday. It was unclear if the resort would reopen in time for Halloween weekend.

Apple Supplier Foxconn said on Tuesday its factory in Zhengzhou, China was affected by a small Covid outbreak.

However, many of the recent surges in cases and subsequent Covid controls have occurred in less economically significant parts of the country, such as areas within Qinghai and Xinjiang in the northwest.

The Nomura report also pointed out that some places have not directly announced lockdown measures, making it difficult to gauge the impact.

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