China’s coronavirus cases hit a six-month high

Beijing over the weekend quashed hopes that its strict zero-Covid policy might be relaxed.

A woman is tested for Covid-19 in Beijing. Picture: Getty Images

China reported its highest daily Covid caseload in six months on Monday, despite lockdowns that have heavily ­disrupted manufacturing, education and day-to-day life.

Beijing over the weekend quashed hopes that its strict zero-Covid policy – in which spot lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing are employed to quash outbreaks – might be relaxed anytime soon.

But lockdown-related scandals where residents have complained of inadequate conditions, food shortages and delayed emergency medical care have chipped away at public confidence.

The country logged more than 5600 new Covid cases on Monday – almost half in Guangdong province, a manufacturing hub in the country’s south, home to major ports.

And in central China, a lockdown at the world’s biggest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou led Apple on Sunday to warn that production had been “temporarily impacted” and that customers would experience delays in receiving their orders.

China’s National Health Commission vowed on Saturday to “unswervingly” stick to zero-Covid, dashing a stockmarket rally last week on the back of ­unsubstantiated rumours that Beijing would imminently ­loosen its strict virus policy.

The death by suicide of a 55-year-old woman in the locked-down city of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, sparked widespread outcry over the weekend after authorities admitted that lockdown protocols delayed their emergency response.

Shortly before the woman jumped from a window, relatives had reported to community workers that she suffered from an anxiety disorder and had shown suicidal intent. Audio of the woman’s daughter begging workers to unseal her door that had been welded shut went viral on Chinese social media.

AFP