Tens of millions of people were under lockdown across China yesterday and businesses in a major tourist city were forced to close as fresh COVID-19 clusters sparked fears of wider restrictions.
Chinese health authorities have reported more than 300 infections in Xian, with new clusters found in Shanghai, Beijing and elsewhere.
The outbreaks and official response have dashed hopes that China would move away from the virus curbs seen earlier this year, when its “zero COVID-19” policy saw tens of millions of people forced to stay home for weeks.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In Shanghai, some social media users reported receiving government food rations — a throwback to the months-long confinement forced on the city’s residents earlier this year.
“I’m so nervous, the epidemic has destroyed my youth,” a Shanghai resident wrote on social media.
Officials launched a new round of mass testing in more than half of the city’s districts after a rebound in cases since the weekend. Karaoke bars were closed after some infections were linked to six venues.
“I think this is unnecessary and I don’t really want to do it,” Shanghai resident Alice Chan told reporters.
Chan said that she took part in the latest testing round over fears that her smartphone-stored health code, which is used to access public spaces, might otherwise flag her as an infection risk.
“I think the situation won’t improve in the short term,” said another resident, who gave his name as Yao. “People now aren’t really scared of COVID-19 anymore, they’re scared of being locked down in their homes.”
Japanese bank Nomura has estimated that at least 114 million people were under full or partial lockdowns nationwide as of Monday, a sharp jump from last week’s 66.7 million.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
RSS