https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-11/china-covid-infections-top-1-000-for-the-first-time-in-two-years?
Despite the swelling outbreak, China is seeing more people infected without obvious symptoms than those who are sickened by the virus -- likely resulting from omicron’s diminished virulence and China’s mass vaccination drive that’s seen nearly 90% of its 1.4 billion people fully inoculated with locally-developed shots and more than one-third boosted. Of Friday’s total caseload, 703 were asymptomatic.
Xi’s Year
Stocks tied to the prospect of China reopening, including travel companies and restaurants, fell Friday. Trip.com Group Ltd. slumped as much as 14% and hot-pot chain Haidilao International Holding Ltd. shed 4.2%. Meanwhile, shares related to virus testing surged. Shanghai Labway Clinical Laboratory Co. and Hangzhou Biotest Biotech Co. climbed as much as 20%.
Beijing recently pledged it would be sticking to Covid Zero, even as other parts of the world dismantle pandemic curbs and open up -- leaving China isolated. Still, there are signs the country’s health officials and experts are at least considering how they may exit the approach and live with the virus as endemic.
That said, any shift will be slow and unlikely to occur before 2023, given the need for stability in a politically important year for President Xi Jinping, people familiar with China’s thinking have told Bloomberg News.