COVID-19 lockdown News

As economic activities came to a halt and a lockdown was implemented in March 2020 due to Covid-19, air across cities cleared up In Delhi-NCR, a major factor that led to a drop in pollution during lockdown was a 97% reduction in overall traffic, a Centre for Science and Environment had said Vehicles emit several pollutants and they seriously impact the health of people

The report by Stanford University said that India's Covid-19 vaccination campaign also helped in preventing a loss of USD 18.3 billion.

China, where Covid-19 is spreading like wildfire, is currently hit by the highly transmissible Omicron strain BF.7. 

Videos posted online showed people protesting China's stringent Covid-19 lockdowns openly shouting slogans such as "Xi Jinping, step down" and "Communist party, step down".

In the viral videos, the song composed by Bappi Lahiri is sung in Mandarin "Jie mi, jie mi", which translates into "Give me rice, give me rice", by people mockingly showing empty vessels to show how they are deprived of essential food items during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

The latest lockdown started on Monday in Fenyang city in northern China's Shanxi province after a preliminary positive case was found in citywide testing the previous day, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

China has extended mass Covid-19 testing, lockdown in areas of Chengdu. Capital of Sichuan province is seeing a spike in coronavirus cases. Restrictions range from mandatory work-from-home policies to closing of entertainment establishments.

China has locked down Chengdu, a southwestern city of 21 million people, following a spike in Covid-19 cases. About 70 per cent of the flights have been suspended to and from the city, which is a major transit hub in Sichuan province and a governmental and economic centre.

The latest curbs reflect China's strict adherence to a "dynamic COVID zero" policy of quashing every flare-up.

The island in the South China Sea saw just two positive symptomatic Covid-19 cases in 2021. The number of infections, however, has suddenly soared, prompting a lockdown in the city of Sanya. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that increased knowledge about coronavirus and better tools to combat it also suggested it was "time for a change of strategy".

China continues to report a high number of Covid-19 cases. The country saw 6,074 new coronavirus infections on May 2. The new cases, however, were down from 7,822 a day earlier.

Coronavirus cases are increasing again in China. There is a strict lockdown in Shanghai and people are living imprisoned in their homes.

The daily Covid-19 cases in Noida dropped marginally on Sunday. However, Noida still remains among the districts reporting maximum cases in the state.

Noida recorded 103 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday. 81 patients recovered from coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours. Over 1.14 lakh Covid tests were done in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.

The Shanghai government has said the city`s epidemic was showing a "positive trend" and that life in the city could return to normal soon as long as the policy was adhered to.

The lockdowns in Shanghai and other parts of China are rattling supply chains. Shanghai city`s deputy mayor Zong Ming acknowledged at a news conference that authorities had not met the public`s expectations in their handling of the situation.

The Chinese cities under full or partial lockdowns contribute 22% of country's GDP.

Shanghai on Tuesday witnessed a record 16,766 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases, up from 13,086 a day earlier.

China continues to witness record Covid-19 cases. Despite lockdowns, the country has reported a total of 13,287 new coronavirus infections. Of the new confirmed cases, 1,455 were locally transmitted with 956 detected from Jilin and 438 from Shanghai.