What are the economic costs of containing rising COVID-19 cases in China?

What are the economic costs of containing rising COVID-19 cases in China?

The steep increases in daily COVID-19 infections recorded by China are raising concerns about the economic costs of disease containment.

China's zero-COVID approach has led to warnings of shipment delays from manufacturers, placing pressure on global supply chains.

A US analyst suggests that the zero-tolerance approach yields diminishing returns against the rapid infection rates of the Omicron variant.



China posted a steep jump in daily COVID-19 infections on 15th March, with new cases more than doubling from a day earlier to hit a two-year high, raising concerns about the rising economic costs of its tough measures to contain the disease.

A total of 3,507 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms were reported across more than a dozen provinces and municipalities, up from 1,337 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said.

Most of the new cases were in the northeastern province of Jilin.

Though China's caseload is still tiny by global standards, health experts said the increase in daily infections over the next few weeks would be key to determine whether its "dynamic zero-COVID" approach, of containing each outbreak quickly as it arises, remains effective against the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.

Makers of everything from flash drives to glass for Apple's iPhone