Snap lockdowns have been declared in several Chinese provinces after a new record of daily COVID-19 cases was recorded on Friday, surpassing the previous record set one day earlier.
China continues to pursue a hardline COVID containment policy which it calls “dynamic zero-COVID”.
The daily cases
On Friday, the Chinese Government reported 32,695 new cases of COVID-19. This marked a new record in daily cases across the country, one day after a then-record of 31,444 cases was reported.
Following rises in case numbers this week, new restrictions were actioned in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai, China’s two largest cities.
Lockdowns were also imposed in multiple other cities.
COVID-zero
While most countries are no longer actively seeking to contain cases of COVID-19 with lockdowns or wide-scale restrictions, China has kept strict containment policies.
Some restrictions, such as quarantine and testing requirements, have been eased in the last month. It’s not clear when China will completely transition away from this policy.
