BEIJING, China (AFP) — Hundreds of thousands of people were under lockdown in a small Chinese city Tuesday after just one case of Covid-19 was detected, as Beijing’s strict no-tolerance virus strategy showed no sign of abating. China is the last major economy glued to a zero-Covid policy, crushing new outbreaks with snap lockdowns, forced quarantines and onerous travel curbs despite mounting public fatigue and damage to the economy. Authorities in several regions have imposed […]
Tag: Lockdown
China lockdown worries hit Asian equities, crude prices
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets and oil prices fell Monday with a fresh Covid flare-up in Shanghai fanning fears of another economically painful lockdown in China’s biggest city. The news came after a forecast-busting US jobs report last week indicated the world’s top economy was coping so far with the Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, giving it room for more as it battles soaring inflation. Traders are also keeping tabs on developments […]
Fresh Covid outbreaks put millions under lockdown in China
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Tens of millions of people were under lockdown in China on Wednesday as businesses in a major tourist city were forced to shut their doors and fresh clusters sparked fears of a return to blanket restrictions. Health authorities reported over 300 infections Wednesday, with clusters found in the historic northern city of Xi’an — home to the Terracotta Army — as well as the country’s biggest city Shanghai. The fresh […]
Shanghai Covid curbs drag on despite officals declaring victory
by Hector Retamal with Jing Xuan Teng in Singapore Agence France Presse SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Locked in their homes as neighbours celebrate freedom, hundreds of thousands of Shanghai residents are finding the path out of lockdown more complicated than the victory trumpeted by Chinese state media. The metropolis of 25 million people was closed in sections from late March after becoming the epicentre of China’s worst Covid outbreak in two years. After gradually […]
Markets, oil prices fall on weak Chinese data
PARIS, France (AFP) — Stock markets and oil prices fell in holiday-thinned trade Monday as traders digested weak Chinese economic data and a looming US interest rate hike. Equities kicked off the month of May on the wrong foot after Wall Street finished a tough April by closing sharply down on Friday following disappointing results from tech giant Amazon. Paris and Frankfurt were down in midday trading while London was closed for a bank […]
Shanghai reports seven more Covid deaths since start of lockdown
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — China reported seven more deaths from Covid-19 in Shanghai on Tuesday, after hundreds of thousands of cases in the metropolis during a weeks-long lockdown. City authorities revealed the first deaths of this outbreak on Monday, with Tuesday’s fatalities bringing the official toll to just 10, even as the virus continues to spread. Beijing insists its zero-Covid policy of hard lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines has averted fatalities and the […]
Shanghai residents frustrated by food shortages, prolonged lockdowns
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Shanghai residents voiced growing frustration on Friday at confusion over a week of snap Covid lockdowns, taking to social media to complain about food shortages and bewildering stay-at-home orders. After initially vowing they would avoid a city-wide lockdown, officials changed tack this week and announced a phased shutdown which divided China’s financial centre in two so authorities can test its 25 million residents. A four-day lockdown of the Pudong area […]
Shanghai official says virus response lacking as city grinds to halt
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — A top Shanghai official conceded Thursday that the Chinese financial hub had been “insufficiently prepared” for its latest Covid outbreak, as criticism mounts over lockdowns that have caught residents off guard. The eastern megacity of 25 million has been split in two as part of a rolling lockdown plan to battle China’s worst outbreak in two years. The spread of the Omicron variant is testing the country’s zero-Covid strategy, which […]
Shanghai to lock down in phases to rein in Covid-19 outbreak
by Dan Martin Agence France Presse SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Shanghai will launch a phased lockdown to curb an Omicron-fuelled Covid-19 outbreak that has hit China with its highest caseloads since the early days of the pandemic, the city government said Sunday. China’s biggest city will lock down its eastern half from Monday until Friday, officials said, followed by a similar lockdown of its western side beginning on April 1. The metropolis of 25 […]
Chinese city locks down, Shanghai shuts schools as Covid spikes
by Dan Martin Agence France Presse SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — A Chinese city of nine million was ordered into lockdown on Friday and Shanghai shut its schools as authorities scrambled to halt a Covid-19 outbreak that has pushed nationwide cases to their highest levels in two years. Changchun, the capital of northeastern Jilin province and an important industrial base, ordered residents to stay at home, allowing one person out every two days to buy […]
Virus-hit Hong Kong considering lockdown: health chief
by Jerome TAYLOR Agence France Presse HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong may impose a China-style hard lockdown that confines people to their homes, authorities signalled Monday, with the city’s zero-Covid strategy in tatters and bodies piling up in hospitals. Two years of strict zero-Covid policies kept the coronavirus largely bay but a breakthrough of the highly transmissible Omicron variant exposed how little authorities had done to prepare for a mass outbreak. Hong […]
Samoa, Kiribati to lock down as virus lands in Pacific
Kiribati and Samoa entered lockdowns Saturday after overseas arrivals brought Covid to the Pacific island nations that had avoided the worst of the pandemic for two years. Until this month, Kiribati hadn’t reported a single virus case, while Samoa had only recorded two since the pandemic began, according to the World Health Organization. But authorities in both countries have been forced to put in place stay-at-home orders after the virus was detected in international arrivals. […]





