Traffic in China’s biggest cities has dropped to the lowest since the Lunar New Year break in the early part of the year as the country’s abrupt end to Covid Zero sparks outbreaks nationwide.
(Bloomberg) — Traffic in China’s biggest cities has dropped to the lowest since the Lunar New Year break in the early part of the year as the country’s abrupt end to Covid Zero sparks outbreaks nationwide.
A measure of congestion levels across 15 major cities is 45% below January 2021, the benchmark used in an index compiled by BloombergNEF based on Baidu Inc. traffic data. The only other time it’s been lower this year was in early February, when the Lunar New Year period saw factories wind down, restaurants close and people leave big metropolises to return home.
The disruption to traffic is even greater than during periods of lockdown — a measure that’s now been scrapped by officials as part of their Covid policy pivot — such as Shanghai’s two-month shutdown across April and May, and a raft of similar curbs in cities around the country in October and November.
China is grappling with its biggest ever Covid outbreak, which threatens to disrupt activity across its economic powerhouses as workers fall ill and many people isolate at home. While Beijing was first to be hit by a surge in infections, straining hospitals and flooding funeral parlors, similar scenes are now playing out in Shanghai where pharmacies are selling out of medicines and business are shutting on a shortage of staff.
Read more: China’s Economy Braces for More Turmoil as Covid Wave Spreads
–With assistance from James Mayger.
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