Coronavirus: China hits infection record as authorities walk line between containment and easing harsh measures

The National Health Commission report on Thursday includes 1,648 cases in Beijing, which so far has not imposed a hard lockdown

Zhengzhou will start a five-day lockdown on Friday to curb case numbers following protests by Foxconn workers on Apple assembly line

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An epidemic prevention worker in a protective suit guards the entrance to an office building in the Beijing central business district as outbreaks of the coronavirus disease continue in China’s capital, Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:21pm, 24 Nov 2022Updated: 7:00pm, 24 Nov 2022

China’s daily Covid-19 infections have jumped to a record high as local authorities scramble to contain expanding outbreaks while balancing their response against a central government order not to impose excessive measures.

The National Health Commission reported 31,444 local infections on Thursday morning, including 27,517 who are yet to show symptoms. The case count exceeded the previous peak in mid-April when Shanghai was under hard lockdown and more than 29,000 local infections were reported nationwide.

The new wave of Covid-19 infections came after the top party leadership tweaked its stringent zero-Covid policy by cutting quarantine time, allowing more inbound travellers and tracing fewer people to lessen disruption to the economy and society.

The 20-point measures, introduced two weeks ago amid a growing coronavirus wave, and the national health authority’s announcement it would build more hospitals, including more intensive care beds, highlighted how the leadership had prepared to tolerate bigger Covid-19 waves.

However, local authorities are left with a difficult balancing act: trying to achieve both “dynamic zero” – cutting each chain of transmission rather than achieving zero Covid infections – while trying to implement the new 20-point playbook, for example by avoiding citywide testing and lockdowns.

Zhengzhou in central Henan province became the first city in China to announce a major lockdown after the new measures were introduced. The municipal government said late on Wednesday night that a five-day plan to “control the movement” – a euphemism for lockdown – would start in its urban districts on Friday.