China Places Several Cities under Lockdown Amid COVID-19 Surge

Rabat - Amid spike in COVID-related cases, Chinese authorities have decided to put several cities under lockdown, including Shenzhen, a tech powerhouse with a population of 17 million.

The move echoes the “Zero-COVID” strategy Chinese authorities adopted when the coronavirus emerged in 2020. The strategy includes strict lockdowns, travel restrictions, and mass testing. 

As part of the newly imposed lockdown, the inhabitants of Shenzhen will be subjected to anti-COVID tests and treatments following the proliferation of the Omicron variant.

After shutting down several businesses and banning restaurants in recent days, authorities in the city where tech companies including Huawei and Tencent are located have asked residents to stay home until further notice.

Meanwhile, there have been reports that Shenzhen has only recorded 66 new COVID infections, while the total cases recorded in China on March 13 amounted to 3,393 new cases.

In Shanghai, China’s most populous city, the number of daily cases in the latest surge rose from 15 to 432. The city government urged people to stay at home and only go out when necessary, stressing that intercity bus service would be suspended starting today.

The city of Jilin was partially locked down on March 12, while residents of Yanji, a county-level city in the east of China's Jilin Province, were confined to their homes earlier today.

COVID-19 virus first appeared in China in late 2019. As of March 9, the country recorded 4,636 COVID-related deaths.

Source: Morocco World News.