Thread by @StephenMcDonell

#China today has city-wide #Covid lockdowns in place in #Shenzhen (12.5 million people), #Dongguan (10.5 million), #Langfang (5.5 million) + a province-wide lockdown in #Jilin (24 million residents). Also quasi-lockdown provisions, in #Shanghai (26 million) & #Xian (13 million).

In addition, there are #Covid restrictions in cities right across #China from localised housing community lockdowns to the closure of bars and restaurants, schools shifting to online classes etc. Many cities also carrying out mass testing.

As #China’s officials continue to pursue a “zero-#Covid” strategy aiming for elimination in each outbreak, there’re more than 50 million residents under strict, stay at home, lockdown today. Then add those under softer “quasi-lockdown” measures that’s more like 90 million people.

I should add that there are also smaller towns and counties also on #Covid lock down around #China. They are in addition to the lockdown locations listed above.

There there is the city of #HongKong, with its own #Covid restriction measures in place. You add this all up and it comes to a pretty significant #Covid lockdown of huge parts of #China’s economy.

Other #Covid lockdown impacts in #China include all international flights into #Shanghai now being diverted to other cities for the time being.

Another way of looking at it, I can only find three of #China's provinces - #Xinjiang, #Ningxia & #Tibet (TAR) - which do not have officially declared #Covid infections at the moment. #Omicron is officially everywhere in this country, except for the more remote regions.

You wonder, at what point, people in #China might become totally jack of "Zero-#Covid" making the strategy not sustainable? Chinese citizens, like say #Australia or #NewZealand, have mostly adhered to the rules when fighting the pandemic but we're into our 3rd year of it now.

I also wonder about #China's real vaccination rate. I met two locals at a function last Friday night who'd not been vaccinated (they weren't connected) & had the stupidest reasons for this. One said he didn't need to because everyone else was vaccinated now. Ignorance to the max.

Update Wednesday: #Shanghai appears to be locking down housing compounds one at a time for mass #Covid testing: two tests in 48 hours. If negative just monitor heath for 12 days. If positive cases are detected: it’s one week strict lockdown there then one week monitoring. #China