BEIJING (AP) – Shanghai allowed 4 million people to leave their homes on Wednesday as virus tests shutting down China’s largest city eased as the International Monetary Fund cut its economic growth forecasts. China and threatens a global influx of industrial products. They were violated.
After the first round of mitigation last week, in a city of 25 million, nearly 12 million people have the right to leave, health official Wu Yang said at a news conference. Wu said the virus was “under effective control” in parts of the city for the first time.
In the latest changes, more than 4 million people are entering areas where the state has gone from closed to controlled, Wu said. He said some are not allowed to leave the district and large gatherings are prohibited.
Meanwhile, the IMF reduced China’s growth forecast for the year to 4.4% from 4.8% due to the closure of Shanghai and other industrial centers. That’s almost half of last year’s 8.1% increase and less than the ruling Communist Party’s 5.5% target.
The number of cases in China is relatively low at the latest infection rate, but the ruling party is pursuing a “zero-COVID” approach, closing major cities to isolate all cases.
On Wednesday, the government announced 19,927 new cases in mainland China, all but 2,761 asymptomatic. Shanghai accounted for 95% of the total cases, or 18,902 cases, of which 2,495 had symptoms.
The Shanghai City Health Agency reported that seven people who had COVID-19 died on Tuesday, but said the cause of death was cancer, heart disease and other diseases. All but two are over 60 years old.
Shanghai has closed its operations and most of its population has been confined to their homes since March 28, following an increase in infections. This led to complaints about access to food and medicine supplies. In Shanghai, people who test positive but have no symptoms are forced to quarantine centers to set up exhibition halls and other public buildings.
This week’s official data showed that economic growth slowed in the first three months of this year compared to the last quarter of 2021.
The IMF report says the closure on China is “likely to exacerbate supply disruptions elsewhere” and could increase pressure to raise inflation.
The ruling party promises tax refunds and other business assistance, but avoids spending on large incentives. Economists say the strategy will take longer to show results and Beijing may need to spend more or reduce interest rates.
Chinese leaders have vowed to try to reduce the cost of human and economic disease control by moving to a “dynamic cleanup” approach that separates neighborhoods and other small areas rather than entire cities . However, many areas appear to be under closer investigation after they were criticized by Shanghai officials for inadequate aggressive action.
Also on Wednesday, the agriculture ministry ordered local officials to refrain from taking measures that could prevent spring planting by farmers who feed 1.4 billion people in China. The law was followed by warnings that the production of wheat and other crops could be hampered, which would increase demand for imports and already raise high world prices.
The government announced that 26,760 people tested positive but no symptoms were released from the observation on Wednesday. This includes 25,411 in Shanghai, where some residents of the quarantine center complained that they were not hygienic.
Other industrial and commercial centers, including Changchun, Jilin and Shenyang in the northeast, Tianjin Port in the east of Beijing, and Shenzhen and Guangzhou in the south, have closed operations, imposed travel restrictions, or residents were told to stay home.
Global automakers and other manufacturers have reduced or stopped production because suppliers are unable to supply.
This week, Volkswagen AG announced that the Changchun plant has resumed production and the automaker is considering when to open its plant in Shanghai. BMW AG said it has opened its plant in Shenyang.
Before control of some cities loosened, the government of Harbin, a city with 5.3 million in the northeast, suspended bus and subway services on Wednesday and banned the public from moving between neighborhoods.
Source: Huffpost
