According to China Briefing by Dezan Shira & Associates updates on October 24, 2022,
- October 24, 2022 – China recorded 221 new confirmed cases, of which 48 were imported (19 in Guangdong, 11 in Fujian, 6 in Beijing, 3 in Sichuan, 2 in Tianjin, 2 in Shanghai, 2 in Jiangsu, 1 in Liaoning, 1 in Zhejiang, and 1 in Guangxi) and 173 were locally transmitted (36 in Shanxi, 32 in Inner Mongolia, 23 in Guangdong, 22 in Shaanxi, 10 in Xinjiang, 8 in Beijing, 8 in Henan, 7 in Hunan, 6 in Anhui, 3 in Tianjin, 3 in Jiangsu, 3 in Chongqing, 3 in Yunnan, 2 in Zhejiang, 2 in Shandong, 1 in Shanghai, 1 in Hubei, and 1 in Guangxi, 1 in Guizhou, 1 in Tibet). No new deaths were recorded. There were 855 new asymptomatic infections, of which 104 were imported and 751 were locally transmitted (125 in Xinjiang, 70 in Guangdong, 69 in Hunan, 66 in Inner Mongolia, 59 in Shaanxi, 38 in Tianjin, 35 in Shandong, 31 in Shanxi, 31 in Yunnan, 30 in Sichuan, 28 in Hubei, 23 in Fujian, 20 in Qinghai, 17 in Anhui, 16 in Jiangsu, 16 in Henan and 15 in Heilongjiang, 11 in Shanghai, 9 in Guangxi, 8 in Gansu, 7 in Zhejiang, 6 in Chongqing, 5 in Hebei, 5 in Ningxia, 4 in Tibet, 2 in Beijing, 2 in Liaoning, 2 in Jilin and 1 in Guizhou). There were 15,137 asymptomatic infections still under medical observation, of which 1,043 were imported.
- As of 17:00, October 24, 2022, China recorded 2,272 high-risk areas (8 in Beijing, 31 in Tianjin, 25 in Hebei, 96 in Shanxi, 412 in Inner Mongolia, 16 in Liaoning, 20 in Heilongjiang, 56 in Jiangsu, 22 in Shandong, 23 in Henan, 58 in Hunan, 93 in Guangdong, 7 in Chongqing, 56 in Sichuan, 6 in Guizhou, 54 in Yunnan, 115 in Shaanxi, 5 in Gansu, 75 in Ningxia, 1,094 in Xinjiang) and 1,567 medium-risk areas.
- Guangzhou district suspends in-person schooling and dine-in. On October 24, 2022, 69 new cases were reported in Haizhu, a district in the heart of Guangzhou. To curb the new COVID-19 outbreak, the local government has implemented the following measures: kindergartens, primary and secondary school students will attend classes online; catering service units (including beverage shops, snack bars, breakfast shops, etc.) must suspend dine-in activities, and only provide take-outs and in-store pick ups.
- Ningbo Port gradually recovers after ship traffic hit by latest COVID-19 outbreak: After a COVID-19 outbreak was detected on October 13, 2022, and spread to the Beilun area of the Ningbo Port, the world’s largest port was not put under lockdown, but a decrease in productivity was observed, according to global maritime analytics provider Marine Traffic. To maintain stability in the supply chain, the Ningbo government implemented a series of measures to ensure smooth movement of goods to/from the port, including working of two-way green channels, port passes, and white list management of container truck drivers. On October 18, the drivers’ attendance rate increased by 20 percent as compared to the previous day. This rate increased again on October 19, 2022, by 30 percent.
- China Airlines to resume more international flights: In order to implement the State Council’s requirements for an orderly increase of international passenger flights as soon as possible, several airline companies in China have announced the resumption or increase in the number of international routes this month. Among them, China Eastern Airlines plans to increase its weekly international routes to 42 and flights to 108 flights from October 30, 2022, up from 25 routes and 54 flights in mid-October. In November, China Eastern Airlines will continue to resume and increase its international routes with Manila and Ho Chi Minh. China Southern Airlines announced that it would increase its weekly international flights from 71 to 86. Hainan Airlines plans to increase international flights between Chongqing and Rome to two a week from November 6, 2022. The official WeChat account of Air China also announced that it would resume several international routes. Spring Airlines, for its part, said on its official WeChat account on October 13 that it would start operating multiple routes with Hong Kong and Macao and other international routes from October 14, 2022. Juneyao Airlines also resumed or added some international routes in October with Seoul and Osaka. These moves are mostly to answer the demand for business travel and don’t mean that China will resume large-scale international travel soon, according to the Caixin report. China has gradually eased COVID-19 prevention measures for international travellers over the past few months. Nevertheless, the number of daily cross-border flights is only five percent of that in 2019.
- Yinchuan, Ningxia province implements classified COVID-19 management after three-day static management: Starting from October 17, 2022, Yinchuan shall implement different COVID-19 control measures based on the risk level of specific areas. Residents in the low-risk areas can go to work by holding a workplace paper certificate with the required info and promising they will only travel between home and workplace without visiting other places. They are required not to gather, not to eat together, and not to take public transportation. People who need to travel across the city have to hold a negative nucleic acid test certificate from the last 48 hours.
- Beijing imposes stricter testing requirements for new arrivals. Beijing now requires people arriving in Beijing to undergo self-isolation at home for three days upon arrival and take two rounds of tests during this period. The first test must be taken within 24 hours of arrival, and the second test must be taken after 48 hours and within 72 hours of arrival. People entering Beijing are also required to show a negative nucleic acid test from the last 48 hours. In addition, a number of the city’s museums, including the Temple of Confucius and Guozijian Museum, have issued a notice that they will refuse entry to any visitor who has been outside of Beijing in the last seven days, per inspection of their travel code. The city has begun to ramp up COVID-19 prevention measures after a recent uptick in case numbers, having recorded seven high-risk areas and seven medium-risk areas on October 13.
- China doubles down on zero-COVID policy after speculation restrictions will ease in 2023. In an interview with CCTV, Head of the National Health Commission’s expert group on epidemic control Liang Wannian reiterated the need to maintain zero-COVID, or “dynamic clearing”, in China because at present, China “cannot achieve a complete balance between the resistance of our health system and viral diseases” and that lifting of restrictions “will lead to a large number of infections, severe illness and death” which would “lead to a run on the medical system, which in turn will further aggravate people’s fears and have a greater impact on society and the economy”. When asked about a possible timeline for return to normal life, he said that “from a scientific point of view, it is difficult to clearly delineate a specific time period”.
- Shanghai imposes new testing requirements for people arriving in the city. As of October 10, all arrivals to the city of Shanghai will be required to undergo three days of nucleic acid tests, including one test within 24 hours of arrival. Those who do not comply with these requirements will have their travel code (随申吗) turned yellow. The announcement was made by the Director of the Municipal Big Data Center Shao Jun at a press conference on Shanghai’s COVID-19 pandemic control and comes after the city recorded 3 new confirmed cases and 31 asymptomatic infections on Sunday, October 9. As of October 10, Shanghai has also recorded 1 high-risk area in Jiading District and 34 medium-risk areas across 11 districts.
- Travel out of Xinjiang has been halted as officials concede to failings in managing the spread of new cases. Xinjiang has suspended all passenger train services leaving the province to stop the spread of COVID-19, as officials admit their inadequate actions have hampered attempts to contain the outbreak over the past two months. The province vice-chairman has admitted failures including low testing capacity and lack of professionalism among staff who became infected after mishandling samples. As of October 5, 2022, the province reported 91 new asymptomatic cases and recorded 54 high-risk and 25 medium-risk areas.
