Despite grinding lockdown, China’s Covid cases hit six-month high

Beijing:

China on Monday reported its highest daily Covid caseload in six months, despite grinding lockdowns that have severely disrupted manufacturing, education and day-to-day life.

Over the weekend Beijing defied hopes that its strict zero-Covid policy – which employs spot lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing to quell the outbreak – could be relaxed anytime soon.

But a torrent of lockdown-related scandals where residents have complained of inadequate conditions, lack of food and delayed emergency medical care has shattered public confidence.

The country recorded more than 5,600 new Covid cases on Monday – nearly half in Guangdong province, a manufacturing hub for major ports in the country’s south.

And in central China, a severe lockdown at the world’s largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou prompted Apple on Sunday to warn that production had been “temporarily affected” and that customers would experience delays in receiving their orders.

“The facility is currently operating at significantly reduced capacity,” the California-based tech giant said in a statement late Sunday.

Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn – Apple’s major subcontractor that runs the plant – revised its quarterly earnings estimates on Monday due to the lockdown.

China’s National Health Commission vowed on Saturday to “incredibly” stick to zero-Covid, pushing a major stock market rally last week on the back of unfounded rumors that Beijing would soon loosen its tough virus policy .

But several high-profile incidents have chimed in on the Chinese public’s support for the approach.

The suicide death of a 55-year-old woman in the locked-down city of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, sparked widespread outrage over the weekend, when officials acknowledged that lockdown protocols delayed their emergency response.

The region has seen a major outbreak since late September, when a new Omicron variant was first detected.

Shortly before the woman jumped out of the window, relatives reported to community workers that she suffered from an anxiety disorder and had shown intention to commit suicide.

Audio of the woman’s daughter begging community workers to lock her doors went viral on Chinese social media, drawing attention to the mental health woes caused by the weeks-long lockdown.

“Who has the right to close the gates of the building? Who has the right to restrict the liberty of others to live? What if there is an earthquake or a fire, who is responsible afterwards?” Read a comment on Weibo platforms like Twitter.

Local authorities have vowed to punish community workers who forcibly seal the doors of homes and build gates despite it being a widespread practice in locked-down areas.

The incident came days after a child died of carbon monoxide poisoning in Lanzhou city of northwestern China’s Gansu province, when hospital treatment was delayed following a slow response from emergency medical services.

In a viral social media post that was later deleted, the boy’s father blamed lockdown controls and community workers for obstructing his access to the hospital, while district officials later apologized for the incident.

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)