Suzhou cranks up measures in wake of Omicron infections

BEIJING • A major Chinese high-tech industry centre limited some highway access yesterday after finding new Covid-19 cases, while epidemic control measures, including mass testing, affected the local operations of overseas firms like Robert Bosch.

The city of Suzhou - a trading, commercial and industrial hub in the eastern province of Jiangsu - reported on Monday eight domestically transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms, the National Health Commission (NHC) said yesterday.

The highly transmissible Omicron variant was found among the cases, a Suzhou official said, without giving details.

Despite the low caseload by global standards, Suzhou said on Monday that it had suspended some long-distance bus services, locked down affected buildings and urged residents not to leave home or the city for non-essential reasons.

Yesterday, the Suzhou authorities closed 15 highway entrances and required drivers and passengers leaving through others to have proof of negative test results within 48 hours.

Suzhou Industrial Park - one of three government-to-government projects by Singapore and China - started a round of mass testing on Monday. The park is an important high-tech development zone that hosts about 100,000 companies and accommodates manufacturing facilities of foreign firms such as Samsung and Eli Lilly.

"We expect a short-term impact on our manufacturing and logistics operations in Suzhou," the automotive supplier Robert Bosch said in a statement to Reuters late on Monday, adding that local office workers were working from home.

Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corporation said on Monday that its 8-inch wafer fabrication subsidiary in Suzhou had temporarily suspended production because of a suspected Covid-19 infection, but added that it saw no material impact on the company's finances.

Including the infections in Suzhou, which is about 80km west of Shanghai, China detected 40 locally transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms for Monday, according to the NHC.

There were no new deaths, leaving the death toll unchanged at 4,636. As at Feb 14, mainland China had 107,094 cases with confirmed symptoms, including both locally transmitted ones and those arriving from abroad.

China has noted that the recovery in its industrial sector is not solid, while the services sector faces more difficulties due to Covid-19.

REUTERS