Meanwhile, in China, the draconian lockdowns that have caused hunger and much hardship throughout the city of Shanghai are coming to an end but it sounds like a whole new nightmare is about to begin. . .
Now China will, apparently, force workers to live on their job sites in an effort to slow the spread or whatever it is China is doing:
Shanghai told businesses they should start to plan for an emergence from a citywide lockdown that would involve workers living on site and testing regularly for the coronavirus. https://t.co/dmhsSlc0mL
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 18, 2022
From the New York Times:
The city, China’s financial capital, told businesses over the weekend that they should start to plan for an emergence from lockdown that would include a “closed-loop management” system where workers would live on site and test regularly for the virus, without providing a timeline for when that might happen.
Officials are under pressure to get China’s economy back up and running in the face of lockdowns and other virus control measures across dozens of cities. On Monday, the country reported that its economy grew at 4.8 percent in the first three months of the year — and that figure, already below Beijing’s target for the year as a whole, included a sharp slowdown in consumer spending in March as restrictions began to spread.
Many people in the city have already been living at their workplaces for several weeks.
It’s not going well, however:
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Shanghai factories struggle with restarts as city aims to ease lockdown https://t.co/wy1CUe8XPo pic.twitter.com/1CLn5gmB82
— Reuters U.S. News (@ReutersUS) April 18, 2022
Tesla will reportedly provide each worker with a sleeping bag and mattress but since there are no “purpose-built dorms,” they’ll sleep on the floor:
$TSLA workers in Shanghai prepared to restart one shift of production on Tues morning after reporting to the factory Monday under a closed loop process that required them to eat, sleep, and bathe at the factory through 5/1. pic.twitter.com/OJ8jLmCgcD
— Gary Black (@garyblack00) April 18, 2022
Keep in mind, this is a city “triple New York City’s population”. . .
“THREAD: 1) Shanghai has quickly become the epicenter of China’s worst coronavirus outbreak since 2020. Many of its 25 million inhabitants — triple New York City’s population — are braving their third week in lockdown.”
THREAD: 1) Shanghai has quickly become the epicenter of China's worst coronavirus outbreak since 2020.
Many of its 25 million inhabitants — triple New York City’s population — are braving their third week in lockdown. https://t.co/sugqkAAErk pic.twitter.com/C9JitnxdRL
— Bloomberg (@business) April 18, 2022
. . .and there’s no evidence their methods are even working:
“2) Even as China vows to stick with Covid Zero policy, the lockdown and repeated testing of Shanghai hasn’t yet stopped the virus from spreading. The city reported more than 22,000 cases Sunday, taking the total number to more than 300,000.”
2) Even as China vows to stick with Covid Zero policy, the lockdown and repeated testing of Shanghai hasn’t yet stopped the virus from spreading. The city reported more than 22,000 cases Sunday, taking the total number to more than 300,000. https://t.co/nyBNp3AI9g pic.twitter.com/ut1FuUfSxu
— Bloomberg (@business) April 18, 2022
Health officials in Shanghai want you to believe that only three people have died in this wave:
“3) Earlier today, Shanghai reported three Covid deaths, the first fatalities of its surging virus outbreak. They were all unvaccinated, aged between 89 and 91 and had underlying diseases.”
3) Earlier today, Shanghai reported three Covid deaths, the first fatalities of its surging virus outbreak. They were all unvaccinated, aged between 89 and 91 and had underlying diseases. https://t.co/uZzUtcsz7h
— Bloomberg (@business) April 18, 2022
LOL. *Now* experts are skeptical?
“4) However, China’s curiously low Covid death toll is out of step with what happened in other countries like New Zealand and Australia with similar outbreaks. Experts are skeptical.”
4) However, China’s curiously low Covid death toll is out of step with what happened in other countries like New Zealand and Australia with similar outbreaks. Experts are skeptical. ⬇️ https://t.co/XS2VPNZDeB
— Bloomberg (@business) April 18, 2022
Capitalism finds a way. . .
“5) The strict restrictions on movement in Shanghai have led residents to resort to bartering, trading neighbors ice cream for vegetables or wine for cake. Even the rich are hunting for basics.”
5) The strict restrictions on movement in Shanghai have led residents to resort to bartering, trading neighbors ice cream for vegetables or wine for cake. Even the rich are hunting for basics. More: https://t.co/TjQp8JCEj8 pic.twitter.com/u3R9ei5uAT
— Bloomberg (@business) April 18, 2022
And there are worries that continued lockdowns will make the already ongoing supply-chain crisis even worse:
6) From port congestions to manufacturing, China's lockdowns are impacting critical sectors across the world’s second-largest economy. Here’s a deeper look. ⬇️ https://t.co/2nJ4XJKMKF
— Bloomberg (@business) April 18, 2022
Here we go again:
Ships waiting to be unloaded in Shanghai.
Who is ready for some old supply-side inflation? pic.twitter.com/aFGlIhDVpj
— Rodrigo Zeidan (@RodZeidan) April 16, 2022
To be clear, the port is open but things have just slowed to a crawl:
No, China is not doing it to hit Europe or the US. If that were the case, Shanghai would simply shut down its port. On the contrary, local authorities are desperately trying to keep it open. The port is one exception to the harshest lockdown in the world. https://t.co/j6lf5awH0D
— Rodrigo Zeidan (@RodZeidan) April 18, 2022
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