The city of Ningbo in China’s Zhejiang province has imposed a partial lockdown to curb another COVID-19 outbreak. The lockdown was initiated in the district of Beilun after the authorities detected a COVID-19 case on Saturday. The infected person was a worker of garment company Shenzhou International that supplies global brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Uniqlo.
Global Times reported on Monday that Ningbo had recorded 23 infections since Saturday. Most of these cases were located in Shenzhou’s plant in Beilun. Following the outbreak, Shenzhou announced that it would partially suspend production in the short term to comply with local segregation measures, adding that it would actively evaluate how the infections affected its operations.
Beilun is one of the 19 areas of Ningbo-Zhoushan port, the world’s busiest container port. Its lockdown has sparked worries that it could prevent port workers and truck drivers from going to work and disrupt the supply chain further. However, local authorities said it had emergency measures in place to ensure smooth logistics operations. Under the policy, qualified truckers are allowed to enter closed areas.
China’s strict COVID-19 policy has constrained global supply chains. Last year, Ningbo had three partial lockdowns within just six months. In August, all inbound and outbound services at one terminal at Ningbo-Zhoushan port were suspended after one employee was found to be infected by the virus.
