The COVID-19 pandemic also referred to as the coronavirus, has been a global bother for the last two years. First identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the virus is caused by coronavirus 2, a severe acute respiratory syndrome.
The disease has caused a lot of suffering to people living in China, giving sleepless nights to the government of China as they try to lower the susceptibility level in the country. As a way of curbing the spread, the government has introduced several quarantine restrictions to the citizens, especially in the two most prominent cities: Beijing and Shanghai.
Shanghai has been reporting more than 15000 new cases each day, making it the center of the latest outbreak in the country. The government has reacted by imposing a citywide lockdown that has been there for weeks now. Thus, confining around 25 million residents in the region to their homes or the neighborhood. Many people are trying to find a way to keep themselves busy while at home to adjust to the mandatory lockdown. One way is to play games at online casinos by following the $5 minimum deposit casino list. The games offered on such platforms are fun and make players enjoy their time at home.
Meanwhile, to restrain the infection, a weighty testing exercise has been launched, leading to several schools shut down and imposed lockdowns on several residential buildings. With the new Omicron variant, which is highly infectious, the virus has been spreading to other cities and provinces faster than the pace that the government can contain it.
According to random calculations, up to 180 million people will be affected by the new enforcement which is about to be employed by the government. The enforcement includes full or partial lockdowns in as many as 27 cities.
Which Regions are the Lockdowns and Restrictions Enforced?
During the early stages of the outbreak, northeastern Jilin province was hit hard. This led to the authorities putting the region under a very strict lockdown, with the city following the suit being the nearby Jilin city. Other significant economic centers, such as Shenzhen, have also been under lockdown, even though some of these measures have recently been lifted. In less than a month, the lockdown in Shanghai has been expanded to the whole city. The city has recorded approximately half a million cases from March 1.
In Beijing, several schools have been closed in the capital in many of its populous districts, with several health centers and upcoming entertainment centers announcing that they are closing up. Life under lockdown has not been that easy. For example, much of the lockdown in Shanghai has been subject to dysfunction and chaos. The resident’s complaints have been numerous, ranging from a shortage of food, and poor medical services to poor conditioning at the makeshift quarantine camps.
The Economic Cost of the Restrictions In China
The restrictions and the lockdown have cost a massive setback to economically important cities of China like Shanghai and Shenzhen. The unemployment level in the country has been increasing each day. Many operational businesses have been forced to fire some of their employees due to suspension of operation in some regions, leading to declining demand for labor. Currency-wise, the Chinese currency, the Yuan, has reached the lowest level it has ever attained since November 2020 due to its rapid weakening.
Conclusion
Even after experiencing rising anger in the country at the lockdowns and the restrictions, the responsible authorities have indicated that the zero-Covid policy in China is not changing soon. The reason behind this is that easing the restrictions can allow the virus to spread rampantly across the country. By so doing, it brings up a lot of destruction through death rate increase and more new cases being reported.