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| A worker in a protective suit keeps watch next to barricades set around a sealed-off area, during a lockdown to curb the spread of the COVID-19 in Shanghai, China, Apr 11, 2022. (File photo by=Reuters/Aly Song) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] SHANGHAI: Shanghai reported a record number of symptomatic COVID-19 cases on Saturday (Apr 16) and other areas across China imposed restrictions as the country kept up its "dynamic clearance" approach that aims to stamp out the highly transmissible Omicron COVID-19 variant, Reuters reported.
The Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone, a central Chinese manufacturing area that includes Apple supplier Foxconn, announced a 14-day lockdown on Friday "to be adjusted according to the epidemic situation". In northwestern China, the city of Xi'an on Friday urged residents to avoid unnecessary trips outside their residential compounds and encouraged companies to have employees work from home or live at their workplace, following dozens of COVID-19 infections this month. The city of Suzhou, near Shanghai, said on Saturday that all employees capable of working from home must do so, and residential compounds and company campuses should avoid unnecessary entry of people and vehicles.
Meanwhile, economists also say the curbs will weigh on the country's economic growth rate this year. China's central bank on Friday evening cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, aiming to cushion a sharp slowdown in growth. Overall, China reported 24,791 new coronavirus cases on Apr 15, of which 3,896 were symptomatic and 20,895 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Saturday.
