SHANGHAI – China’s government has urged citizens to stock up on daily necessities and for authorities to take steps to ensure adequate food supplies as the country adopts increasingly tight measures to contain its latest Covid-19 outbreak.
A notice posted on the website of the Commerce Ministry late yesterday urged “families to store a certain amount of necessities needed to meet daily living supplies and emergencies”.
The directive made no mention of a food shortage or whether the instructions were motivated by fears that Covid-19 measures could disrupt supply chains or leave locked down citizens in need of food.
But China, which has kept its infection numbers relatively low through a Covid-19-zero strategy of border closures, targeted lockdowns, and long quarantine periods, is increasingly adopting tough measures to contain the latest outbreak, especially ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics beginning on February 4.
The Commerce Ministry notice also told authorities to take measures to facilitate agricultural production, keep supply chains smooth, ensure that regional food reserves are adequate and maintain stable prices.
Besides Covid-19 concerns, China has been hit hard over the past two years by heavy summer flooding that impacted agricultural output and drove up prices, raising concerns that the problem could worsen as climate change brings increasingly extreme weather.
The government last year launched a national campaign to curb food waste.
Average wholesale prices of 28 kinds of vegetables in October were up 16% from the previous month, state media reported yesterday, citing government data.
China has generally kept daily new case counts in the low double digits for much of the pandemic.
However, daily cases rose to as high as 143 in August amid a Delta outbreak, eased off for several weeks, but have begun climbing again amid what the government calls a “serious” new outbreak, with cases popping up in a dozen provinces.
A total of 92 new cases were reported yesterday, the highest since mid-September.
The government has restricted some inter-provincial travel, ramped up testing, and urged people to postpone social gatherings like weddings and banquets.
As an example of the extreme measures taken, the Shanghai Disneyland theme park closed temporarily from Sunday night and prevented visitors and park personnel from leaving until they underwent Covid-19 testing, all due to a single coronavirus case.
More than 38,000 people were tested as a result. – AFP, November 2, 2021
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