Beijing shuts parks, museums as China's COVID cases rise - Reuters

BEIJING, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Beijing unopen parks, buying malls and museums connected Tuesday portion much Chinese cities resumed wide investigating for COVID-19, arsenic China fights a spike successful cases, deepening concerns astir its system and dampening hopes for a speedy post-coronavirus reopening.

China reported 28,127 caller section cases nationally for Monday, nearing its regular highest from April, with infections successful the confederate metropolis of Guangzhou and the southwestern municipality of Chongqing accounting for astir fractional of the total.

In the capital, Beijing, cases are hitting caller highs each day, prompting calls from the city's authorities for much residents to enactment put.

There were 2 caller deaths attributed to COVID-19 by wellness officials, compared with 3 implicit the weekend, which were China's archetypal since May.

The latest question is investigating caller adjustments China has made to its zero-COVID policy, which asks authorities to beryllium much targeted successful their clampdown measures and steer distant from the wide lockdowns and investigating that person strangled the system and frustrated residents.

The municipality of Tianjin, adjacent Beijing, connected Tuesday became the latest to bid city-wide testing, aft a akin announcement connected Sunday by Shijiazhuang.

Even aft the tweaked guidelines, China remains a planetary outlier with its strict COVID restrictions, including borders that stay all-but-shut astir 3 years into the pandemic.

Tightening measures successful Beijing and different cities, adjacent arsenic China tries to debar city-wide lockdowns specified arsenic the 1 that crippled Shanghai this year, person renewed capitalist worries implicit the system and prompted global stocks and lipid prices to gaffe overnight.

Nomura analysts said connected Tuesday their in-house scale estimated that localities accounting for astir 19.9% of China's full gross home merchandise were nether immoderate signifier of lockdown oregon curbs, up from from 15.6% past Monday and not acold disconnected the index's highest successful April, during Shanghai's lockdown.

LOCALISED LOCKDOWNS

The Chinese superior connected Monday warned that it is facing its astir terrible trial of the COVID-19 pandemic and tightened rules for entering the city, requiring arrivals from elsewhere successful China to acquisition 3 days of COVID investigating earlier they are permitted to permission their accommodation.

Numerous Beijing residents person seen their buildings locked down, though those restrictions often past conscionable a fewer days.

Some metropolis residents said they had experienced delays successful market deliveries, due to the fact that of dense volumes.

Many museums were closed and venues specified arsenic the Happy Valley amusement parkland and the city's immense Chaoyang Park, a fashionable spot with runners and picnickers, said connected Tuesday they would unopen owed to the outbreak. Beijing reported 1,438 caller section cases, up from 962 connected Sunday.

The cardinal metropolis of Wuhan, wherever the microorganism was archetypal discovered, issued a announcement connected Tuesday urging its residents to lone question betwixt location and work.

Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who has spearheaded China's zero-COVID policy, visited Chongqing connected Monday and urged authorities determination to adhere to the measures and bring the outbreak nether control, the municipality said.

NOT AS ROSY

Investors had hoped that China's much targeted enforcement of zero-COVID curbs could herald much important easing, but galore analysts are cautioning against being excessively bullish.

Many businesses, particularly customer-facing ones, besides fear they whitethorn not survive until adjacent twelvemonth arsenic customers proceed to clasp choky to their cash.

China argues that President Xi Jinping's signature zero-COVID argumentation saves lives and is indispensable to forestall the healthcare strategy being overwhelmed.

Many experts caution that afloat reopening requires a monolithic vaccination booster effort and a alteration successful messaging successful a state wherever the illness remains wide feared. Authorities accidental they program to physique much infirmary capableness and fever clinics to surface patients, and are formulating a vaccination drive.

"The existent representation whitethorn not beryllium arsenic rosy arsenic it seems," Nomura analysts wrote, saying they lone expected immoderate reopening to accelerate aft March adjacent year, erstwhile the reshuffle of China's apical enactment is completed.

"Reopening could beryllium backmost and distant arsenic policymakers whitethorn backmost down aft observing accelerated increases successful cases and societal disruptions. As such, section officials whitethorn beryllium adjacent much reluctant to beryllium the archetypal movers erstwhile they effort to dependable retired Beijing’s existent intentions," Nomura wrote.

Reporting by the Beijing and Shanghai newsroom; Writing by Brenda Goh; Editing by Tony Munroe, Miral Fahmy and Gerry Doyle

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