Time.news – The Covid pandemic strikes the production system of one of the most advanced areas of China, the eastern province of Zhejiang, where at least twenty listed companies have suspended production to contain the spread of the virus. Zhejiang, one of the manufacturing hubs of the Asian country, is the province that counts for the highest number of internal transmission infections: today there are 44 of the 51 registered nationally, out of a total of 76 new confirmed cases, down compared to 101 yesterday.
Meanwhile, the first Omicron variant case in the country was registered yesterday in Tianjin, identified in a traveler from Europe, as reported today by the tabloid Global Times: a new Omicron infection was registered today in Guangzhou, in south-east China.
In addition to the twenty industrial plants, cited by the Reuters agency, as well fifty thousand people were quarantined and several flights and events were canceled to contain the spread of the virus. The cities of Shaoxing, Hangzhou, and Ningbo – which closed a port terminal last summer after a positive Covid-19 case, causing delays in operations and logistical bottlenecks – have seen a “relatively rapid” spread of the virus. according to what was stated by local authorities over the weekend, and in Zhejiang, where 64.4 million people live, there are 217 infections confirmed by the first infection at the local level, recorded on 6 December last.
China maintains a strict “zero contagion” policy which had repercussions on the economy, contributing to the slowdown in the third quarter, when the gross domestic product grew by 4.9% on an annual basis, also affected by the energy crisis and the debt crisis in the real estate sector.
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