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The COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
) caused by
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...
(SARS-CoV-2).
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
was the first country to experience an outbreak of the disease, the first to impose drastic measures in response (including lockdowns and face mask mandates), and one of the first countries to bring the outbreak under control. The 2019–2020 COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China was the first wave of the disease, and was first manifested as a cluster of mysterious
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...
cases, mostly related to the
Huanan Seafood Market The Wuhan Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market (), simply known as the Huanan Seafood Market (''Huanan'' means 'South China'), was a live animal and seafood market in Jianghan District, Wuhan City, the capital of Hubei Province in Central China. ...
, in
Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...
, the capital of
Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The p ...
province. It was first reported to the local government on 27 December 2019 and published on 31 December. On 8 January 2020, a new
coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the co ...
(
SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...
) was identified as the cause of the pneumonia by Chinese scientists. By 29 January, the virus was found to have spread to all provinces of mainland China. By late February, the pandemic had been brought under control in most Chinese provinces. On 25 February, the reported number of newly confirmed cases outside mainland China exceeded those reported from within for the first time. By the Summer of 2020, widespread community transmission in China had been ended, and restrictions were significantly eased. The Chinese government response has included a
zero-COVID Zero-COVID, also known as COVID-Zero and "Find, Test, Trace, Isolate, and Support" (FTTIS), is a public health policy that has been implemented by some countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.Anna Llupià, Rodríguez-Giralt, Anna Fité, Lola Ála ...
strategy, which aims to eliminate transmission of the virus within the country and allow resumption of normal economic and social activity, making it one of few countries to pursue this approach. By late 2020, China's economy continued to broaden recovery from the recession during the pandemic, with stable job creation and record international trade growth, although retail consumption was still slower than predicted. Infection rates increased in 2022, and on 3 April 2022, China reported 13,146 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which was the highest single-day total of new cases since the height of the 2020 outbreak. Following nationwide protests in November and December of that year, the Chinese government relaxed many of its previous restrictions, effectively ending the zero-COVID policy and leading to a massive surge in cases.


Graphics


Context

New infectious diseases impose a serious threat to the health of the general public. Their origins are often mysterious despite intensive research efforts. Although human coronaviruses (CoVs) had been known as major
pathogen In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a g ...
s to cause the
common cold The common cold or the cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the respiratory mucosa of the nose, throat, sinuses, and larynx. Signs and symptoms may appear fewer than two days after expos ...
, a new species of coronavirus, namely SARS-CoV caused an epidemic involving 29 countries during 2002–03 which infected 8098 persons and killed 774 of them. The evidence shows that the virus might have originated from an animal coronavirus, but somehow entered the human population. Its outbreak also implies that animal coronaviruses could be a potential danger to humans. Since the 2003 SARS outbreak, the general public and the scientific community in China have been worried about the potential return of the deadly virus which motivated the Chinese government to reform its public health system to handle the next public health crisis. As part of the reform, China expanded the laboratory networks to handle the pathogens of the infectious diseases which included a newly built BSL-4 laboratory in Wuhan and a national key laboratory to investigate into pneumonia with unclear causes. Zeng Guang, the Chief Scientist at China CDC believed that a quicker publication of the epidemic information was a lesson that China learned from the SARS outbreak as the lack of information release worsened the outbreak. With the improved public health system, China managed to handle several public health emergencies. In coping with the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak starting from Mexico, China developed and distributed vaccines to 100 million people within months as an active prevention. During the 2013 H7N9 outbreak in East China, the country's health system identified the pathogen 5 days after the outbreak. Test kits for diagnosis were designed and distributed to all mainland provinces 3 days after the identification. Within months, effective vaccines were developed. Besides, Chinese academic Li Lanjuan and her group was the first to reveal the virus's transmission methods, molecular mechanisms and effective treatment. However, '' Southern Metropolis Daily'' stated that although people paid more attention to public health, the government's funding to the health system was far from enough as CDCs in smaller municipalities had to reduce their staff. 10 years after the SARS outbreak, few people wore a face mask when they had respiratory symptoms and the hospitals were cutting the fever clinics off. Despite confidence in winning the next battle against
SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...
,
Zhong Nanshan Zhong Nanshan (born 20 October 1936) is a Chinese pulmonologist. He was president of the Chinese Medical Association from 2005 to 2009 and is currently the editor-in-chief of the '' Journal of Thoracic Disease''. He is a recipient of Medal o ...
who earned fame in fighting the SARS outbreak in 2003 still held a conservative attitude to whether the Chinese officials would lie to the people about a disease outbreak. As of 2017, mainland China had only 36 critical care beds per million people; in comparison, South Korea had 106, and Taiwan 285, beds per million people. Early cases surrounding the animal market suggested potential animal-to-human transmission while later the virus was found to be able to transmit from ill people to others. There have been cases where asymptomatic patients transmitted the virus to others. According to China NHC, the virus transmits by droplets or close contact while some proposed that feces could also be where the virus hides and transmits from. The typical symptoms of the viral infection included fever, dry cough, dyspnea, headache and pneumonia which are usually developed after an incubation time lasting as long as 2 weeks. The existence of mild but infectious cases complicated the epidemic control efforts. It is also noticed that patients might be able to transmit the virus even during the incubation period. ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' described the outbreak as China's
Chernobyl Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about n ...
moment, increasing the pressure on its leader, Xi Jinping. A trade war with the US, Hong Kong protests, and an African swine fever outbreak that led to a pork shortage already placed pressure on the current government. At the end of December 2019,
Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...
announced the suspension of passenger trains to and from Wuhan. In early January 2020, the local government of Henan Province with its complete disinfection measures, effective and intensive publicity, a strong awareness of epidemic prevention and quarantine among the people, the setting up of return spots at the village entrance and even the use of garbage trucks, the digging of trenches to block roads connecting Hubei and the hanging of slogans such as "return home with sickness is to dishonor your parents." () became a trending Weibo topic hashtag. However, cutting the roads off without authorization is illegal in mainland China as Xinhua and the Public Security Ministry pointed out. The Ministry of Transport asked the local governments to take the principle of "block one, not three ()", that is, to block the virus from spreading, but not to block roads, traffic and Internet access, the transportation of emergency supplies and the transportation of essential goods.


First outbreak

Based on retrospective analysis published in ''
The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles ...
'' in late January, the first confirmed patient started experiencing symptoms on 1 December 2019, though the ''
South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...
'' later reported that a retrospective analysis showed the first case may have been a 55-year-old patient from Hubei province as early as 17 November. The outbreak went unnoticed until 26 December 2019, when Zhang Jixian, director of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Hubei Xinhua Hospital, noticed a cluster of patients with pneumonia of unknown origin, several of whom had connections to the
Huanan Seafood Market The Wuhan Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market (), simply known as the Huanan Seafood Market (''Huanan'' means 'South China'), was a live animal and seafood market in Jianghan District, Wuhan City, the capital of Hubei Province in Central China. ...
in Wuhan. She subsequently alerted the hospital, as well as municipal and provincial health authorities, which issued an alert on 30 December. Results from patient samples obtained on 29–30 December indicated the presence of a novel coronavirus, related to
SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...
. Semi-log graph of 3-day rolling average of new cases and deaths in China during COVID-19 epidemic showing the lockdown on 23 January and partial lifting on 19 March.


Spread beyond Wuhan

On 22 January, Hubei launched a Class 2 Response to Public Health Emergency. Ahead of the Hubei authorities, a Class 1 Response to Public Health Emergency, the highest response level was announced by the mainland province of
Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...
on 23. Stringent measures such as lockdown of Wuhan and the wider Hubei province and face mask mandates were introduced around 23 January, which significantly lowered and delayed the epidemic peak according to epidemiology modelling.
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...
and
Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangx ...
followed suit later on the day. On the following day, Hubei and other 13 mainland provinces also launched a Class 1 Response. By 29, all parts of mainland initiated a Class 1 Response after Tibet upgraded its response level on that day. Yet, by 29 January, the virus was found to have spread to all provinces of mainland China. On 31 January, the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...
declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. A severe shortage of face masks and other protective gear led several countries to send international aid, including medical supplies, to China.


April 2020–December 2022


2020

On 2 April 2020, the government ordered a Hubei-like lockdown in Jia County, Henan, after a woman tested positive for the COVID-19. It is suspected that she may have been infected when she visited a hospital where three doctors tested positive for the virus, despite showing no symptoms. On 9 April, a COVID-19 cluster was detected in Heilongjiang Province, which started with an asymptomatic patient returning from the United States and quarantining at home. The US
CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georg ...
reported that the infections were initially spread through a shared elevator used at different times, and led to at least 71 cases by 22 April. In early May, restrictions were tightened in
Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest c ...
. In June, an outbreak with 45 people testing positive at Xinfadi Market in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
caused some alarm. Authorities closed the market and nearby schools; eleven neighborhoods in the
Fengtai District Fengtai District () is a district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies mostly to the southwest of the city center, extending into the city's southwestern suburbs beyond the Sixth Ring Road, but also to the south and, to a smaller extent, the s ...
started requiring temperature checks and were closed to visitors. By this time, public health technology included special
leaf blower A leaf blower, commonly known as a blower, is a device that propels air out of a nozzle to move debris such as leaves and grass cuttings. Leaf blowers are powered by electric or gasoline motors. Gasoline models have traditionally been two-stro ...
backpacks designed to vent hot air onto outdoor surfaces. By the evening of 23 June, Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan declared that the situation had been brought under control. China's traffic authorities vowed to strictly guard traffic out of Beijing: those with abnormal health QR codes or without recently-taken negative PCR test proof would not be allowed to take public transportation or drive out of the capital. On 26 July, China saw its highest number of daily cases since March, mostly from outbreaks in Xinjiang and
Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmo ...
. with 61 new cases, up from 46 cases a day earlier, This increased to 127 daily COVID cases on 30 July. The daily reported cases subsequently went down, to 16 on 23 August. In July, Xinjiang province and its capital
Ürümqi Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. Ürümqi developed its ...
were locked down in the wake of the discovery of new cases in the city. On 11 October, officials in
Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
urged to carry out contact tracing and mass testing after 12 new cases were found connected to the Qingdao Chest Hospital. On 12 October, it was announced that Qingdao would test all 9 million of its residents. In October, 137 asymptomatic cases were detected in
Kashgar Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan. ...
,
Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwes ...
and were linked to a garment factory. On 18 December, a local case was reported in Beijing. It was the first local infection in 152 days in Beijing. As of 27 December, thirteen more cases have been detected. Another outbreak linked to a traveler from South Korea was reported in Liaoning late December.


2021

In January 2021, many cities and districts in the province of Hebei, Jilin and Heilongjiang were put into lockdown to contain a new outbreak in the region. On 7 January,
Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on ...
authorities reported 51 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 31 asymptomatic carriers. On 6 January, after reporting 63 new cases in the northern province of
Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...
, of which 20 were infections and 43 asymptomatic cases locally transmitted, the local Government decided to lockdown the provincial capital city of
Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...
, as most of the cases were detected there. On 9 January, the cities of Shijiazhuang and
Xingtai Xingtai (), formerly known as Xingzhou and Shunde, is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has a total area of and administers 4 districts, 2 county-level cities and 12 counties. At the 2020 censu ...
with total population of 19 million, were placed under lockdown measures, with passenger trains suspended, as well as flights and coach service to Beijing at 300 km distance in north east direction. On 14 January, Wangkui County of Suihua City, Heilongjiang Province moved into lockdown after reporting 40 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The virus sample taken from the cases in Suihua is reported to be similar to the strain identified in Dalian. Also on 14 January, China reported the first death from the virus after eight months, a patient from
Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...
. A team of experts from the
WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...
visited
Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...
to conduct investigations into the origin of the pandemic. They were also supposed to quarantine for two weeks prior to starting their inquiry. On 15 January, the city of
Langfang Langfang () is a prefecture-level city of Hebei Province, which was known as Tianjin Prefecture until 1973. It was renamed Langfang Prefecture after Tianjin became a municipality and finally upgraded into a prefecture-level city in 1988. Lang ...
of Hebei was put into lockdown. By 18 January 11 regions in China were under ''de facto'' lockdown, including five districts in Heilongjiang and the cities of Gongzhuling and Tonghua in Jilin province. On 20 January, residents of
Daxing District Daxing District () is a district of Beijing, covering the southern suburbs of the city. It borders the Beijing districts of Tongzhou to the east/northeast, Fangshan to the west, Fengtai to the northwest, Chaoyang to the northeast, and the Heb ...
of Beijing were banned from leaving the capital region. On 4 April, China saw the largest number of reported COVID-19 cases in over two months, with 15 new reported cases of local transmission in the city of
Ruili Ruili (; tdd, ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ᥛᥣᥝᥰ; shn, မိူင်းမၢဝ်း; th, เมืองมาว; my, ရွှေလီ) is a county-level city of Dehong Prefecture, in the west of Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. It ...
on the Burmese border. This followed a previous outbreak in Ruili in September 2020. Unauthorized border crossings from Myanmar remain a concern, and the local government has started vaccinating Ruili residents to work towards herd immunity. On 29 May, authorities shut down some streets in
Liwan District Liwan District is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. The district is split into two parts by the Pearl River: Xiguan in the northeast and Fangcun in the southwest. ...
in
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...
due to an outbreak in Guangdong province.
Foshan Foshan (, ), alternately romanized as Fatshan, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the ...
's Shadi Airport has cancelled all flights and suspended operations from 12 June. On 6 June,
Ruili Ruili (; tdd, ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ᥛᥣᥝᥰ; shn, မိူင်းမၢဝ်း; th, เมืองมาว; my, ရွှေလီ) is a county-level city of Dehong Prefecture, in the west of Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. It ...
was again put into lockdown after three local infections associated with the Delta variant. On 10 July, it was reported that the new outbreak has spread to 13 cities in five provinces including the capital Beijing. The cases were linked to cleaners who worked on a flight from Russia that arrived in Nanjing on 10 July 2021 who did not follow strict hygiene measures. Officials added that the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus was behind these new infections and there are worries about whether the Chinese vaccines would work against the Delta variant. On 21 July, another local cluster was identified in
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...
after 17 airport workers have tested positive during a routine check up. By 2 August, the outbreak, caused by fast-spreading Delta variant, has reached more than 20 cities.
Zhuzhou Zhuzhou (, ), formerly Jianning (建宁), is a prefecture-level city of Hunan Province, China, straddling the Xiang River southeast of the provincial capital, Changsha, and bordering Jiangxi province to the east. It is part of the " Greater Chan ...
,
Zhangjiajie Zhangjiajie (), also known in Tujia language as ''Zhangx jif avlar'' /dzaŋ˩ ji˥ a˩.la˥/, is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Hunan Province, China. It comprises the district of Yongding, Wulingyuan and counties of Cili ...
and
Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, ...
were forced into lockdowns. Some flights, trains and buses to Beijing have been cancelled to guard the capital against the new surge. On 11 September, another cluster of infections was found in Xianyou county of Putian, Fujian province. Multiple clusters have also emerged in Bayan county of
Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest c ...
, Heilongjiang, the source of infections remains unclear. On 23 October, China reported the highest number of new cases since the September outbreak in Fujian, with domestic infections reported in Ejin Banner of Inner Mongolia and in
Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
, Gansu and new cases reported in Beijing, Ningxia, Jiangxi and Yunnan. Another outbreak by imported case was reported in the northern border town of
Heihe Heihe (; ; Russian: Хэйхэ) is a prefecture-level city of northern Heilongjiang province, China, located on the Russian border, on the south bank of the Amur (Heilong) River, across the river from Blagoveshchensk. At the 2020 census, 1 ...
, Heilongjiang province. On 26 October, the city of
Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
was put into lockdown after six new cases were detected. In early November, Dalian reported more than 80 cases of COVID-19, the first of which occurred in a warehouse worker in the Zhuanghe district of the city on 4 November. In response, on 8 November local authorities ordered all businesses handling imported chilled and frozen foods to suspend operations. In mid-December, the outbreak in the cities of Ningbo, Shaoxing and Hangzhou was developing at a "relatively rapid" speed, forcing closure of flights and venues. The outbreak began to subside from mid December, with Hangzhou resuming low-risk status as of 21 December. On 22 December, the border city of Dongxing next to Vietnam has ordered residents to stay at home due to one COVID-19 case. The strict measures resulted in severe backlog of trucks at the border crossings and disrupted trade, prompting the Vietnam government to complain. From 23 December 2021, the city of
Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...
with 13 million people was put into strict lockdown after local authorities reported more than 250 cases, traced to the
Delta variant The Delta variant (B.1.617.2) was a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It was first detected in India in late 2020. The Delta variant was named on 31 May 2021 and had spread to over 179 countries by 22 November 2021. The ...
by authorities. The lockdown led to stressed healthcare and delayed or insufficient food deliveries to some parts of the city. On 26 December 155 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms were reported from Xi'an, contributing the largest part to the countrywide highest daily count since the outbreak in Wuhan, of 158 cases. The city was placed into strict lockdown until 24 January 2022. The city of
Ruili Ruili (; tdd, ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ᥛᥣᥝᥰ; shn, မိူင်းမၢဝ်း; th, เมืองมาว; my, ရွှေလီ) is a county-level city of Dehong Prefecture, in the west of Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. It ...
bordering Myanmar was reported to have endured four lockdowns with 200 days in total in 2021.


2022

On 4 January 2022, 1.1 million people in Yuzhou,
Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...
received stay at home order after three asymptomatic COVID-19 cases were reported. In the evening of the same day, Zhengzhou told its residents in risky areas that they could not leave the city without approval from health control authorities. The Xi'an outbreak appeared to ease, with 35 local symptomatic cases reported that day. On 11 January, the city of
Zhengzhou Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the Nationa ...
has upgraded measures and closed down non-essential services during a citywide mass testing campaign while
Anyang Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively. It ...
has been placed under lockdown. On 24 January, lockdown restrictions were lifted in Xi'an while 2 million residents of
Fengtai district Fengtai District () is a district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies mostly to the southwest of the city center, extending into the city's southwestern suburbs beyond the Sixth Ring Road, but also to the south and, to a smaller extent, the s ...
of Beijing underwent mass testing. On 25 January, the border city of
Suifenhe Suifenhe () is a county-level city in southeastern Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, located where the former Chinese Eastern Railway crosses the border with Russia's town of Pogranichny, Primorsky Krai. In January 2014, ...
was placed into lockdown. On 7 February, the city of
Baise Baise (; local pronunciation: ), or Bose, is the westernmost prefecture-level city of Guangxi, China bordering Vietnam as well as the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan. The city has a population of 4.3 million, of which 1.4 million live in the ...
in Guangxi province has been placed under lockdown after 37 symptomatic cases were reported on the day before. On 11 March, the city of
Changchun Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 ...
of
Jilin Province Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
was placed into lockdown after the highest single day spike in cases since the Wuhan outbreak was reported. Food shortages related to shutdown measures were reported. Sporadic outbreaks have been reported in
Laixi Laixi () is a county-level city of Qingdao sub-provincial city, Shandong Province, China. Laixi is known as "Qingdao's Back Garden". , its neighbor to the north; however, Laixi is now the northernmost county-level division of Qingdao and Laiya ...
and
Huangdao Huangdao District () and Xihai'an New Area (), also known as Qingdao West Coast is a district and a state-level new area of Qingdao, Shandong, China, located southwest and west of the main urban area of the city on the western shore of Jiaozhou ...
of Shandong province. On 14 March, the city of
Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...
was placed on lockdown, with factories halting production after new virus cases doubled nationwide to almost 3,400. The neighboring city of
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
was also battling a severe outbreak since January. Schools and public transport were closed in Shanghai and people were forbidden to enter or exit
Jilin Jilin (; Postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three Provinces of China, provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, R ...
as the entire province is closed to curb the virus spread. On 15 March, the whole area of
Langfang Langfang () is a prefecture-level city of Hebei Province, which was known as Tianjin Prefecture until 1973. It was renamed Langfang Prefecture after Tianjin became a municipality and finally upgraded into a prefecture-level city in 1988. Lang ...
city, Hebei and the factory center of Dongguan in Guangdong were put into lockdown. The earlier shutdown of Shenzhen has forced manufacturers such as Toyota, Volkswagen and Apple's supplier
Foxconn Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., trading as Hon Hai Technology Group in China and Taiwan and Foxconn internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer established in 1974 with headquarters in Tucheng, New ...
to suspend operations. The Shenzhen lockdowns ended on 23 March. On 20 March, China reported its first COVID-19 deaths since January 2021 and the first double daily toll since May 2020, with both fatalities coming from Jilin. On 23 March, lockdowns were implemented in the cities of
Tangshan Tangshan () is a coastal, industrial prefecture-level city in the northeast of Hebei province. It is located in the eastern part of Hebei Province and the northeastern part of the North China Plain. It is located in the central area of the Boha ...
and
Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the provi ...
. On 28 March, China announced the largest city-wide lockdown since the outbreak began in which
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...
will be locked down in two stages. The city of Shanghai became the country's COVID-19 epicenter after a surge in cases. Shanghai's lockdowns has hit operations at the city's ports, causing disruptions on the logistical chain to the manufacturing hubs nearby. There were reports of
panic buying Panic buying (alternatively hyphenated as panic-buying; also known as panic purchasing) occurs when consumers buy unusually large amounts of a product in anticipation of, or after, a disaster or perceived disaster, or in anticipation of a large ...
to stock up supplies in the city. On 30 March, the city of
Xuzhou Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...
in Jiangsu has imposed a three-days lockdown. On 3 April, China reported 13,146 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which was the highest single-day total of new cases since the height of the pandemic in
Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...
in February 2020. On 4 April, officials in
Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trad ...
announced a new mutation of the Omicron variant was detected in
Changshu Changshu (; Suzhounese: /d͡ʐan¹³ ʐoʔ²³/) is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, and is part of the Yangtze River Delta. It borders the prefecture-level city of Nantong to the northeast across the Yan ...
. The city of
Baicheng Baicheng () is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Jilin province, People's Republic of China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Heilongjiang to the east and northeast. At the 2010 census, 2,033,058 people l ...
in Inner Mongolia was put into lockdown.


March–May 2022 Shanghai outbreak

By 9 April, it is estimated that 23 Chinese cities, home to an estimated 193 million people and contribute 22% of China's GDP, have been implementing either full or partial lockdowns. In Shanghai, residents have reported food shortages due to lockdown measures The city's health system has shown signs of strain as patients were turned away from hospitals as wards were closed and medical staff have been deployed to quarantine hospitals. A series of deaths were reported at the Shanghai Donghai Elderly Care hospital, which their relatives blame on lack of care due to hospital staff being taken away for quarantine. Videos have emerged on social media showing Shanghai residents engaging in protests and clashes with police over quarantine policies.


Continuation of rolling lockdown measures

On 11 April, authorities in
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...
closed the city to most arrivals and only allowed citizens with a "definite need" to leave. Lockdown measures continue to spread to other cities in China as restrictions on movement were reported in Suzhou, Zhengzhou,
Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...
and
Ningde Ningde (; Foochow Romanized: Nìng-dáik), also known as Mindong (; Foochow Romanized: Mìng-dĕ̤ng; lit. East of Fujian), is a prefecture-level city located along the northeastern coast of Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders ...
. On 16 April, a temporary partial lockdown was again imposed in Xi'an after dozens of infections were reported. On 19 April, Tangshan re-enforced partial lockdowns in some of its districts. On 26 April,
Baotou Baotou (; mn, Buɣutu qota, Бугат хот) is the largest city by urban population in Inner Mongolia, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, as of the 2020 census, its built-up (''or metro'') area made up of its 5 urban districts is h ...
in Inner Mongolia announced it will lock down for a week while Beijing begins mass testing of nearly all of its 21 million residents. On 28 April,
Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also Chinese postal romanization, romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the prov ...
started mass testing while the wholesale hub of
Yiwu Yiwu () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jinhua in Central Zhejiang Province, East China. As of the 2020 census, the city had 1,859,390 inhabitants and its built-up (or metro) area, joined with that of the neighboring Dongy ...
and the port city of
Qinhuangdao Qinhuangdao (; ) is a port city on the coast of China in northern Hebei. It is administratively a prefecture-level city, about east of Beijing, on the Bohai Sea, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea. Its population during the 2020 national ...
were put into lockdown. On 30 April, China recorded 47 deaths from Covid within 24 hours, bringing the total toll above 5,000. A Caixin media report cited that
Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shan ...
,
Lu'an Lu'an (), is a prefecture-level city in western Anhui province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan to the northwest and Hubei to the southwest. As of the 2020 census, it had a total population of 4,393,699 inhabitants whom 1,752,537 liv ...
,
Quanzhou Quanzhou, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metropolitan region, with an area of and a popul ...
,
Suqian Suqian (, IPA: ) is a prefecture-level city in northern Jiangsu Province, China. It borders Xuzhou to the northwest, Lianyungang to the northeast, Huai'an to the south, and the province of Anhui to the west. History Suqian was said to be the s ...
,
Wuhu Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei city to the northwest, Ma' ...
,
Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and w ...
, Xuzhou along with many cities in Jilin, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu and Shaanxi was locked down in April, with more than 30 million people affected. The province of Jilin began to gradually lift COVID-19 control measures from the end of April. It reported a GDP shrinkage of 7.9% during the first quarter of 2022. On 3 May, the city of Zhengzhou imposed new movement restrictions, which halts all activities and only allows each household to one person with a negative test result to go out once a day to purchase basic supplies. On 13 May, Beijing authorities announced that parts of Chaoyang, Fangshan and
Shunyi Shunyi District () is an administrative district of Beijing, located to the northeast of the city's urban core. As of 2014, the population of the district is around 983,000, of which approximately 601,000 have local residency permits. The Beiji ...
districts would be subject to tighter curbs. On 22 May, lockdowns have been imposed on those three districts along with Haidian and Fengtai. On 24 May, the city of
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
locked down its central district, causing delays and blank sailings at its ports. On 31 May, Shanghai began to start lifting its strict lockdown measures, allowing people to return to work and malls and shops to re-open in "low-risk" areas. In some neighborhoods and districts, residents were ordered to stay home until mid-June after completion of rounds of rigorous testing. On 6 June, Beijing authorities further relaxed curbs by allowing indoor dining while the city of
Erenhot Erenhot ( mn, ; , commonly shortened to Ereen or Erlian) is a county-level city of the Xilin Gol League, in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, located in the Gobi Desert along the Sino-Mongolian border, across from the Mongolian town of Za ...
and the
Sonid Right Banner Sonid Right Banner ( Mongolian: ''Söned Baraɣun qosiɣu''; ) is a banner of Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes mos ...
of Xilin Gol, Inner Mongolia have imposed lockdowns. On 13 June, an outbreak linked to a nightclub forced Beijing authorities to shut down the Workers' Stadium and Sanlitun leisure and nightlife districts. Despite the flare up, Beijing declared an "initial victory" over COVID-19 on 16 June and allowed schools to resume in-class teaching on 27 June. On 29 June, the county of Sixian of Anhui was put into lockdown. On July 1, Anhui put a second county, Lingbi, under lockdown. On 6 July, Shanghai reported the most virus infections since late May, with sporadic cases also propped up in Xuzhou and Wuxi. On 9 July, the city of
Haikou Haikou (; ), also spelled as Hoikow is the capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. The northern part of the city is on the ...
on Hainan Island imposed seven-day restrictions that shut down businesses and public venues. On 10 July,
Qinyang Qinyang () is a county-level city in Henan province, China, bordering Shanxi province to the north. It is administered by the prefecture-level city Jiaozuo. The current population of Qinyang is estimated at 470,000. In 1999, the population stood a ...
in Henan province almost completely locked down its residents while Xi'an and Lanzhou moved to tighter curbs. On 12 July, Wugang,
Zhumadian Zhumadian (; postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province, China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to the northwest, Luohe to the north, Zhoukou to the northeast, and the province of ...
and
Pingdingshan Pingdingshan (), also known as Eagle City ( zh, s=鹰城, p=Yīngchéng, t=鷹城), is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province, China. It had 4,904,701 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,756,333 lived in the built-up (or metro) a ...
in Henan implemented a three days implementation of strict closed control. On 13 July,
Huaiyuan Huaiyuan County (Postal: Hweiyuen; ) is a county in the north of Anhui Province, China. It is under the administration of Bengbu Bengbu () is a city in northern Anhui Province, China. Its population was 3,296,408 registered residents at the 20 ...
of Anhui and Lanzhou of Gansu were reported to have shifted into full lockdown. On 14 July, China reported an increase in cases tally as a new cluster emerged around
Beihai Beihai (; Postal romanization: Pakhoi) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Guangxi, People's Republic of China. Its status as a seaport on the north shore of the Gulf of Tonkin has granted it historical importance as a port of internat ...
, Guangxi. On 17 July, lockdown was imposed in Beihai and the tourist island of Weizhou, trapping more than 2,000 holidaymakers.
Dandong Dandong (), formerly known as Andong, is a coastal prefecture-level city in southeastern Liaoning province, in the northeastern region of People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese border city, facing Sinuiju, North Korea across th ...
's mayor has apologised for an over 50-day lockdown that the North Korea-bordering city had to endure. On 27 July, authorities in Wuhan shut down
Jiangxia District Jiangxia District () is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, China, situated on the eastern (right) bank of the Yangtze River. Jiangxia district has an area of and a population of 680,0 ...
of almost a million people after detecting four asymptomatic cases. Throughout July, Shenzhen's biggest manufacturers including
Foxconn Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., trading as Hon Hai Technology Group in China and Taiwan and Foxconn internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer established in 1974 with headquarters in Tucheng, New ...
,
Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various sma ...
and BYD were forced to operate within a "closed loop" restricted system as the manufacturing hub was battling its latest Covid outbreak. On 3 August, the export hub of
Yiwu Yiwu () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jinhua in Central Zhejiang Province, East China. As of the 2020 census, the city had 1,859,390 inhabitants and its built-up (or metro) area, joined with that of the neighboring Dongy ...
in Zhejiang suspended public gatherings and locked down some areas to cope with COVID-19 flare ups. On 6 August, authorities in the resort city of
Sanya Sanya (; also spelled Samah) is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan Province in South China. According to the 2020 census, the total population of Sanya was 1,031,396 inhabitants, livi ...
of Hainan announced movement restrictions after hundreds of cases were reported, leaving around 80,000 tourists stranded. Danzhou, Qionghai and other cities on the island also enforced lockdown measures. On 8 August,
Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhasa ...
, the regional capital of
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
recorded one symptomatic patient and seventeen asymptomatic cases while
Shigatse Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê (; Nepali: ''सिगात्से''), is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the histo ...
, Tibet's second biggest city imposed three days of curbs. The region reported only one infection in 2020, and had remained clear of cases since then. On 10 August, Ürümqi in Xinjiang started a five-day lockdown of its key districts. Other cities in Xinjiang including
Yining YiningThe official spelling according to (), also known as Ghulja ( ug, غۇلجا) or Qulja ( kk, قۇلجا) and formerly Ningyuan (), is a county-level city in Northwestern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China and the seat of the Ili Kazakh A ...
,
Korla Korla,The official spelling according to also known as Kurla, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency or from Mandarin Chinese as Ku'erle or Kuerle, is the second largest city in Xinjiang. It is a county-level city and the seat ...
, Aksu and
Turpan Turpan (also known as Turfan or Tulufan, , ug, تۇرپان) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 632,000 (2015). Geonyms The original name of the cit ...
were also hit by circuit breaking mechanism. On 21 August, Taigu and
Pingyao Pingyao, officially Pingyao Ancient City, is a walled city in central Shanxi, China, famed for its importance in Chinese economic history and for its well-preserved Ming and Qing urban planning and architecture. Administratively, it comprises ...
of Shanxi and
Nanchong Nanchong (; Sichuanese: lan2cong1) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of Sichuan province, China, with an area of . At the 2020 census it was home to 5,607,565 people, of whom 1,936,534 lived in the built-up (or 'metro') area made of th ...
of Sichuan went into lockdown. On 28 August, Hebei authorities issued a stay-at-home order for residents of
Xianghe Xianghe County () is a county of central Hebei province. It is under the administration of Langfang prefecture-level city. Xianghe has 7 towns and 2 townships. It is southeast of Beijing. Sanhe city, Dachang Hui Autonomous County and Xianghe Cou ...
,
Zhuozhou Zhuozhou (), is a county-level city with 628,000 inhabitants in Hebei province, bordering Beijing to the north. It is administered by Baoding prefecture-level city. Zhuozhou has 3 subdistricts, 6 towns, 5 townships, and 1 development zone. Adm ...
and all urban districts of
Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...
. On 31 August,
Daqing Daqing (; alternately romanized as Taching) is a prefecture-level city in the west of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. The name literally means "Great Celebration". Daqing is known as the "Oil Capital of China" and has experi ...
in Heilongjiang was put into lockdown. On 1 September,
Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese provin ...
announced a lockdown of its 21.2 million residents, the most populous city to be locked down since Shanghai in earlier 2022. Other major cities including Shenzhen and Dalian also stepped up COVID restrictions. On 5 September,
Guiyang Guiyang (; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), historically rendered as Kweiyang, is the capital of Guizhou province of the People's Republic of China. It is located in the center of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, ...
sealed off six of its districts to contain Covid outbreak. On 15 September, lockdowns were mostly lifted in Chengdu. On 5 October,
Xishuangbanna Xishuangbanna, Sibsongbanna or Sipsong Panna ( Tham: , New Tai Lü script: ; ; th, สิบสองปันนา; lo, ສິບສອງພັນນາ; shn, သိပ်းသွင်ပၼ်းၼႃး; my, စစ်ဆောင်� ...
of Yunnan province went into full lockdown, leaving travellers stranded at its airport. On the same day, residents were banned from leaving Xinjiang over an outbreak, weeks after the region had been relaxing restrictions following a stringent lockdown. On 17 October, Zhengzhou locked down its district
Zhongyuan Zhongyuan (), the Central Plain(s), also known as Zhongtu (, lit. 'central land') and Zhongzhou (, lit. 'central region'), commonly refers to the part of the North China Plain surrounding the lower and middle reaches of the Yellow River, centere ...
to tame a virus flareup. On 26 October, hundreds of migrant workers in Tibetan capital of Lhasa took to the streets to protest harsh lockdown measures, which had been lasting for 74 days. In late October, dozens of cities across China have again ramped up their lockdowns, including districts of Shanghai, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Datong and Xining, affecting more than 200 million people. In Heilongjiang province,
Suihua Suihua () is a prefecture-level city in west-central Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, adjacent to Yichun to the east, Harbin, the provincial capital, to the south, Daqing to the west and Heihe to the north. It has 3,756,167 inha ...
and
Mudanjiang Mudanjiang (; Manchu: ''Mudan bira''), alternately romanized as Mutankiang, is a prefecture-level city in the southeast part of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. It was called ''Botankou'' under Japanese occupation. It serves as ...
were also experiencing outbreaks. In Zhengzhou, workers at the
Foxconn Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., trading as Hon Hai Technology Group in China and Taiwan and Foxconn internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer established in 1974 with headquarters in Tucheng, New ...
factory have turned to social media for help and to voice their anger about inadequate food and lack of medical care amid strict control measures implemented on the campus. The complex employs more than 200,000 workers, thousands of them chose to escape the campus en masse, trekking across fields to return to their home. On 2 November, the death of a 3-year-old boy to a gas leak in
Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
, reportedly after delay in receiving treatment due to movement restriction has triggered a wave of public anger. Videos on social media show residents taking to the streets demanding answer from authorities and buses containing SWAT teams arriving at the scene. Local authorities issued apologised the next day. On 9 November, movement restriction measures were placed in the urban districts of
Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Co ...
. It was reported that the city has been struggling to contain spread of virus.


Protests and end of zero-COVID measures

In
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...
, a surge in cases has spurred blanket lockdowns in the city. On 5 November,
Haizhu District Haizhu District is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. Geography Haizhu District is located in the southern part of Guangzhou city. After the adjustment of Guangzhou's ...
was locked down and transport systems were suspended. On 9 November, the city reported more than 3,000 cases and locked down its central district of Liwan. On 14 November, it has been reported that residents in several districts have taken to the streets to protest against restriction policies. Videos posted online showed crowds crashing through lockdown barriers and marching down streets. On 21 November, Beijing authorities shut most non-essential business and issued stay home order in the city's largest district of Chaoyang. The city reported three Covid-related deaths on the weekends before, the first deaths in mainland China since the Shanghai outbreak in May. On 23 November, China reported 31,444 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the highest daily figure since the virus was first detected in 2019 and surpassing figures during the Shanghai outbreak between March and May. The government responded by tightening restrictions in cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Government of
Changchun Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 ...
urged the public to halt non-essential movement and avoid going outside. In Zhengzhou, protests erupted at the Foxconn iPhone manufacturing factory campus over poor pay and restriction conditions, after authorities attempted to lock down the facility following an outbreak. On 24 November, a building fire in under-lockdown
Ürümqi Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. Ürümqi developed its ...
killed 10 people and wounded 9. This sparked widespread protests against lockdowns and COVID-19 policies across major Chinese cities, prompting the Chinese government to signal plans to ease restrictions. On 30 November, vice premier Sun Chunlan announced that pandemic controls are entering a "new stage and mission", adding that the Omicron variant is less virulent and that rectification of control methods are underway. Sun said local governments should "respond to and resolve the reasonable demands of the masses". On 7 December, China announced a nationwide loosening of COVID-19 restrictions, in which PCR testing would be reduced and lockdowns would also be limited. Among the changes, the health pass application will no longer be required for entry to most public spaces and patients with mild symptoms may quarantine at home rather than in the facilities.


December 2022 surge

Following the easing of stringent restrictions, Beijing reported a surge in COVID-19 infections. The Chinese central government's reported death statistics only include cases in which COVID-19 directly caused respiratory failure, which led to skepticism by health experts of the government's total death count. Restaurants and food delivery services were reported to have closed due to too many workers being infected and pharmacies have been emptied of medicine and disinfectant solution. The Central Economic Work Conference, a key economic policy meeting, was subsequently postponed due to the spike in infections. On 15 December, the National Health Commission has stopped reporting asymptomatic cases as it was "impossible to accurately grasp" the actual number of asymptomatic infections. On 20 December, the Chinese State Council narrowed its definition of what would be counted as a COVID-19 death, specifying that only deaths caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure would count toward the total number of fatalities resulting from SARS-CoV-2. This decision came as long lines of hearses appeared outside of crematoriums throughout China and medical students at universities nationwide protested for better pay and increased protections at overcrowded hospitals. On 22 December, a report by UK research firm Airfinity modelling based on regional Chinese data estimated that more than 5,000 people are probably dying each day from COVID-19 in China, with cases rising fastest in Beijing and Guangdong province. Internal minutes from a meeting of China's National Health Commission held on 21 December revealed that as many as 248 million people in China might have contracted COVID-19 over the first 20 days of December and nearly 37 million people may have been infected on a single day. On 23 December,
Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
's municipal health chief Bo Tao has been quoted in a news report that the city was seeing "between 490,000 and 530,000" new infections each day. On the same day, Dongguan's health commission declared on its Weixin account that the city had 250,000 to 300,000 people being infected every day. Officials in Yulin, a city of 3.6 million people in Shaanxi province, logged 157,000 new infections with models estimating more than a third of the city's population had already been infected. On 25 December, the National Health Commission announced that it would no longer report daily COVID-19 figures. Zhejiang provincial government said it is battling around a million new infections a day and expected the number to be doubling in days ahead.


Impact


Education

On 27 January 2020, the Chinese Ministry of Education advised all higher education institutions to postpone the spring semester, with all local education departments to determine the starting time of the new semester for K-12 education and local colleges according to the decision of the local governments. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security also decided to put the new semester off for all vocational education facilities.


Religion

The Chinese government, which upholds a policy of
state atheism State atheism is the incorporation of positive atheism or non-theism into political regimes. It may also refer to large-scale secularization attempts by governments. It is a form of religion-state relationship that is usually ideologically l ...
, used the pandemic to continue its antireligious campaigns, demolishing Xiangbaishu Church in
Yixing Yixing () is a county-level city administrated under the prefecture-level city of Wuxi in southern Jiangsu province, China, and is part of the Yangtze River Delta. The city is known for its traditional Yixing clay ware tea pots. It is a pene-exc ...
and removing a Christian cross from the steeple of a church in Guiyang County.


Government response

China is one of a small number of countries that have pursued an elimination strategy, sustaining a low case numbers between the 2020 outbreak until early 2022. China's response to the initial Wuhan COVID-19 outbreak has been both praised and criticised. Some have criticised the
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
of information that might be unfavorable for local officials. Observers have attributed this to a culture of institutional censorship affecting the country's press and
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...
. The government censored
whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...
s,
journalists A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
, and social media posts about the outbreak. During the beginning of the pandemic, the Chinese government made efforts to clamp down on discussion and hide reporting about it. Efforts to fund and control research into the virus's origins and to promote fringe theories about the virus have continued up to the present. In October 2020, ''The Lancet Infectious Diseases'' reported: "While the world is struggling to control COVID-19, China has managed to control the pandemic rapidly and effectively."


Immigration control

During the early phase of the pandemic, Hubei suspended the processing of applications from mainland Chinese residents for entry and exit of mainland China. For those with a valid visa to enter Hong Kong and Macau, but fail to enter the areas due to the outbreak, the Chinese Immigration Administration will issue a new visa for free on request of the visa holder after the outbreak is lifted. Some of automated border clearance systems will be shut down according to the needs of the epidemic prevention. After Wuhan declared lockdown on 23 January, the Tianhe Airport and
Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers whe ...
River ports have been without passengers for several days. Since 25 January 2020, Taiwan's government banned anyone from mainland China entering the country with the ban extended to mainland Chinese overseas. On 24 August 2022, the Chinese government began to ease restrictions for foreign students, allowing them to enter the country for the first time in more than two years.


Lockdown and curfew

Ever since Hubei's lockdown, areas bordering Hubei including Yueyang in Hunan and Xinyang in Henan set up checkpoints on roads connecting to Hubei to monitor cars and people coming from Hubei. Between 24 and 25 January, the local governments of Shanghai, Jiangsu,
Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...
and other areas announced to quarantine passengers from "key areas" of Hubei for 14 days.
Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Co ...
also announced mandatory screening of every person who arrived from Wuhan since 1 January, and set up 3 treatment centers. During the 2019–2020 COVID-19 outbreak, factories were closed or reduced production for a few weeks. When they opened again, measures were implemented to reduce risk.


Vaccination

In July 2020, the government granted an emergency use authorization for two
COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an e ...
s. It has also pledged or provided humanitarian assistance to other countries dealing with the virus. By June 2021, a billion doses of domestically produced vaccine had been administered in China, giving a dose rate similar to many European countries. A further billion doses had been administered by late August of the same year. Another 1 billion doses were administered by the end of January 2022. In February 2022, Pfizer's Covid therapy tablet Paxlovid has received conditional approval in China. It is the first oral pill created exclusively to treat the disease in the country. While public authorities have mandated lockdowns and mandatory mass testing for areas with infection, there has not been any rule to making vaccination mandatory. Some facilities within China have made vaccination mandatory for entry, including things like movie theatres, fitness centres, internet bars, museums and libraries.https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-62089752, BBC, 中国新冠病毒"清零"政策对习近平造成危险, retrieved July 12th 2022 In July 2022, according to official figures, while 89% had received 2 doses, only 56% of eligible people had received a booster dose. Furthermore, this was even lower among vulnerable elderly age groups, with only 19.7% of people over the age of 80 having received a booster dose. According to BBC reporting, this may have been attributed to public confidence in the ability of authorities to control outbreaks, the narrative presented by public authorities within China that the virus was mainly an overseas problem as well as some doctors within China who warned vulnerable people of the health risks of the vaccine. China has provided vaccines to other countries. In November 2021, the Chinese government pledged to provide 1 billion vaccine doses to African countries, including 600 million donated doses and 400 million other doses, in addition to the 200 million doses it had already provided. In the same announcement, Xi pledged additional investment in Africa and promised to send 1,500 public health experts.


Discrimination

Fear,
regional discrimination in China Regional discrimination in China or regionalism is overt prejudice against people based on their places of origin, ethnicity, sub-ethnicity, language, dialect, or their current provincial zones. China's sheer size and population renders much d ...
, and racial discrimination within and beyond China increased with the growing number of reported cases of infections despite calls for stopping the discrimination by many governments. Some rumors circulated across Chinese social media, along with endorsements and counter-rumor efforts by media and governments. The Chinese government has worked to censor and counter reporting and criticism about the crisiswhich included the prosecution of several citizen journalistsand portray the official response to the outbreak in a positive light. They have also provided humanitarian assistance to other countries dealing with the virus.


Misinformation and conspiracy theories

There were conspiracy theories about COVID-19 being the CIA's creation to keep China down on China's Internet, according to London-based ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
''. Multiple conspiracy articles in Chinese from the SARS era resurfaced during the outbreak with altered details, claiming that SARS is biological warfare conducted by the US against China. Some of these articles claim that
BGI Group BGI Group, formerly Beijing Genomics Institute, is a Chinese genomics company with headquarters in Yantian District, Shenzhen. The company was originally formed in 1999 as a genetics research center to participate in the Human Genome Project. It ...
from China sold genetic information of the Chinese people to the US, with the US then being able to deploy the virus specifically targeting the
genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ...
of Chinese individuals.


Statistics

The confirmed case count in mainland China only includes symptomatic cases; asymptomatic infections are reported separately.


See also

*
COVID-19 pandemic in China The COVID-19 pandemic in China is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). China was the first country to experience an outbreak of the di ...


References


External links


Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases
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Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

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