China’s health authorities on Thursday reported the worst daily report of coronavirus infections since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, even though the government is maintaining a strict policy of social restrictions to try to contain outbreaks as they are detected.
Specifically, the Ministry of Health has reported 29,754 new positives, up from the 28,973 detected in mid-April, at the height of the Shanghai megacity confinement. The figures have soared again in recent weeks, according to official media.
The authorities are now opting for more targeted and less indiscriminate measures, after isolations such as those in Shanghai – lasting two months – led to outbursts of protest. However, this has not prevented scenes of tension such as those recorded in recent days at Apple’s main iPhone manufacturing plant in Zhengzhou.
In Beijing, restrictions affect several neighborhoods, while the authorities have opted to reduce social mobility by closing schools, parks and museums, among other public places.
On the 11th, the Ministry of Health also updated the protocols in the event of infection, with a reduction in the quarantine period for contacts of infected patients and less pressure on testing.
