Covid cases, controls spread in China

BEIJING — Covid controls in China have tightened in the last two weeks after more cities reported virus outbreaks.

The restrictions on business and social activity affected 9.2% of China’s gross domestic product as of Thursday, up from 7% on Oct. 16, according to Nomura’s model.

“Since the 20th National Party Congress kicked off on 16 October, domestic Covid case numbers have been clearly on an upward trajectory,” the firm’s chief China economist Ting Lu and a team said in a report Thursday. “The national lockdown situation has been getting … significantly worse.”

For Thursday, mainland China reported 214 Covid cases with symptoms and 1,123 without. The infections were reported in well over 20 of China’s 31 province-level regions.

Among the many outbreaks nationwide, infections in the capital city forced Universal Beijing Resort to close temporarily starting Wednesday. It was unclear if the resort would re-open in time for Halloween weekend.

Apple supplier Foxconn said Tuesday its factory in Zhengzhou, China, was affected by a small Covid outbreak.

However, many of the recent case clusters and ensuing Covid controls have occurred in less economically prominent parts of the country, such as areas within Qinghai and Xinjiang in the northwest.

The Nomura report also pointed out that some localities have not directly announced lockdown measures, making it difficult to assess the impact.