BEIJING: China reported its highest daily COVID-19 caseload in six months Monday, despite grinding lockdowns that have heavily disrupted manufacturing, education and day-to-day life.
Beijing over the weekend quashed hopes that its strict zero COVID-19 policy — in which spot lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing are employed to quash outbreaks — might be relaxed anytime soon.
But a torrent of lockdown-related scandals where residents have complained of inadequate conditions, food shortages and delayed emergency medical care have chipped away at public confidence.
The country logged over 5,600 new COVID-19 cases Monday — almost half in Guangdong province, a manufacturing hub in the country’s south home to major ports.
And in central China, a grueling lockdown at the world’s biggest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou led Apple Sunday to warn that production had been “temporarily impacted” and that customers would experience delays in receiving their orders.
“The facility is currently operating at significantly reduced capacity,” the California-based tech giant said in a statement late Sunday.
Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn — Apple’s principal subcontractor which runs the plant — revised down its quarterly earnings forecast Monday due to the lockdown.
China’s National Health Commission vowed Saturday to “unswervingly” stick to zero COVID-19, dashing a major stock market rally last week on the back of unsubstantiated rumors that Beijing would imminently loosen its strict virus policy.
But a number of high-profile incidents have chipped away at the Chinese public’s support for the approach.
The death by suicide of a 55-year-old woman in the locked-down city of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia sparked widespread outcry over the weekend after authorities admitted that lockdown protocols delayed their emergency response.
The region has been in the grip of a major outbreak since late September, when a new omicron variant was first detected.
Shortly before the woman jumped from a window, relatives had reported to community workers that she suffered from an anxiety disorder and had shown suicidal intent.
Audio of the woman’s daughter begging community workers to unseal her door that had been welded shut went viral on Chinese social media, drawing attention to mental health crises exacerbated by weeks-long lockdowns.
“Who has the right to weld building gates shut? Who has the right to restrict others’ freedom to live? What if there is an earthquake or fire, who is responsible afterwards?” read one comment on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.
Local officials have vowed to punish community workers who forcibly seal household doors and building gates with locks, despite it being widespread practice in locked-down areas.
The incident came days after a toddler in the locked-down city of Lanzhou, northwest China’s Gansu province, died of carbon monoxide poisoning after the slow response of emergency medical services delayed hospital treatment.
In a viral social media post that was later deleted, the boy’s father blamed lockdown controls and community workers for obstructing their access to hospital, while district authorities later apologized for the incident.
China COVID-19 cases at six-month high despite grinding lockdowns
https://arab.news/pzx93
China COVID-19 cases at six-month high despite grinding lockdowns
- Beijing over the weekend quashed hopes that its strict zero COVID-19 policy might be relaxed anytime soon
- The country logged over 5,600 new COVID-19 cases Monday — almost half in Guangdong province
Pakistan killed over 80 militants in strikes on TTP camps in Afghanistan — official
- Saturday’s airstrikes followed a series of attacks inside Pakistan amid a surge in militancy
- The Afghan Taliban authorities accuse Pakistani forces of killing civilians in the airstrikes
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan destroyed seven Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) camps and killed over 80 militants, a Pakistani security official said on Sunday, with the Afghan Taliban accusing Pakistani forces of killing civilians in the assault.
Saturday’s airstrikes followed a series of attacks inside Pakistan amid a surge in militancy. Authorities say the attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, were carried out by the TTP and allied groups that Islamabad alleges are operating from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. Kabul denies this.
According to Pakistan’s information ministry, recent incidents included a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad, separate attacks in Bajaur and Bannu, and another recent incident in Bannu during the holy month of Ramadan, which started earlier this week. The government said it had “conclusive evidence” linking the attacks to militants directed by leadership based in Afghanistan.
“Last night, Pakistan’s intelligence-based air strikes destroyed seven centers of Fitna Al-Khawarij TTP in three provinces of Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost, in which more than eighty Khawarij (TTP militants) have been confirmed killed, while more are expected,” a Pakistani security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Arab News.
An earlier statement from Pakistan’s information ministry said the targets included a camp of a Daesh regional affiliate, the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), which claimed a suicide bombing at an Islamabad Shiite mosque that killed 32 people this month.
In an X post, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani forces had violated Afghan territory.
“Pakistani special military circles have once again trespassed into Afghan territory,” Mujahid said. “Last night, they bombed our civilian compatriots in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, martyring and wounding dozens of people, including women and children.”
The Afghan Taliban’s claims of civilian casualties could not be independently verified. Pakistan did not immediately comment on the allegation that civilians had been killed in the strikes.
In a post on X, Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said it had summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires to Afghanistan Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani and lodged protest through a formal démarche in response to the Pakistani military strikes.
“IEA-MoFA (The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs) vehemently condemns the violation of Afghanistan’s airspace and the targeting of civilians, describing it as a flagrant breach of Afghanistan’s territorial integrity & a provocative action,” it said in a statement.
“The Pakistani side was also categorically informed that safeguarding Afghanistan’s territorial integrity is the religious responsibility of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan; henceforth, the responsibility for any adverse consequences of such actions will rest with the opposing side.”
Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have escalated since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021. Pakistan says cross-border militant attacks have increased since then and has accused the Taliban of failing to honor commitments under the 2020 Doha Agreement to prevent Afghan soil from being used for attacks against other countries. The Taliban deny allowing such activity and have previously rejected similar accusations.
Saturday’s exchange of accusations marks one of the most direct confrontations between the two neighbors in recent months and risks further straining already fragile ties along the volatile border.
