LOCKDONWS HAVE RETURNED to Wuhan, where Covid-19 was first reported nearly three years ago.
Some 900,000 residents of the central Hanyang district were told on Wednesday to stay home at least until Sunday after 18 cases were detected. Social media posts show barriers being erected in the streets. All non-essential businesses have been instructed to close. Food stores and pharmacies remain open.
Wuhan had enjoyed a long run of being Covid-19 free after eliminating the virus by April 2020. However, in July, the Jiangxia district on the city’s outskirts was locked down after an outbreak was detected.
Reported cases are edging up again nationally and are the highest in two weeks. Thursday brought a third successive day of more than 1,000 reported new symptomatic and asymptomatic cases.
New lockdowns have also been imposed this week in Xi’an, Datong city in Shanxi province and a central district in Guangzhou.
According to Nomura, 28 Chinese cities were implementing varying degrees of lockdown measures as of October 24. These affected some 208 million people in regions responsible for nearly a quarter of China’s 2021 economic output.
At last week’s 20th Party Congress, Xi Jinping dismissed the possibility of any immediate easing of his zero-Covid policy, despite the economic cost and widespread popular weariness with the strict measures.
Meanwhile, video footage of what appear to be anti-Covid protests in Lhasa has emerged. The Tibetan capital has been under lockdown for nearly three months. The protestors seem to be several hundred immigrant Han Chinese workers rather than Tibetans.
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China Bystander 
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