Millions of people in China were under tight Covid restrictions on Wednesday as sporadic outbreaks across the country prompted business closures and disruption at the world’s largest iPhone factory. China is the last major economy welded to a zero-Covid strategy, persisting with snap lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines in a bid to keep infections to a minimum.
But fast-spreading virus variants have challenged that approach in recent months, with shutdowns and an ever-shifting patchwork of curbs sparking public exasperation and rare pockets of protest.
The world’s most populous nation recorded just 1,241 new local cases on Wednesday, the majority of which displayed no symptoms, according to the National Health Commission.
But they include an outbreak at a factory in the central city of Zhengzhou that employs around 300,000 people and is known as the largest producer of iPhones in the world.
In the northwestern city of Xining — home to 2.5 million — residents complained on social media about grinding stay-home measures, with some making accusations of underreported cases that AFP was unable to verify.
“Xining is like Shanghai in April,” wrote one Weibo user, referencing the months-long lockdown that triggered isolated protests in the eastern megacity earlier this year.
But Shanghai’s situation has since improved, and officials there began rolling out an inhalable Covid vaccine on Wednesday in what is thought to be the first such campaign in the world.
The vaccine — produced by Tianjin-based manufacturer CanSino Biologics — was approved by domestic regulators last month and is being administered as a booster for those who have previously received a jab.
Footage posted on social media by local news outlets showed residents lifting translucent beakers to their lips and sucking in the mist-like vaccine through a nozzle.
Source: IOL
In other news – SABC’s serious warning to Zahara
South African award-winning Afro-soul singer Zahara is the latest celebrity to be accused of being a diva.
A local publication reports the singer, who is working on a reality show that will premiere on SABC soon, has been given an ultimatum by the public broadcaster. Learn more
