Hohhot moves toward normalcy despite COVID numbers

While seeing many infections, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, still continues to remove more communities from static management.

Also, more supermarkets, convenience stores and fresh markets are reopening, said Wang Yao, deputy director of the municipal government office of Hohhot, at a news conference on Thursday.

Wang said that is because most of the new infections were found in high-risk areas, centralized quarantine locations and among people subject to closed-loop management, so the government is working to recover normal life elsewhere.

Inner Mongolia reported 98 new locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,113 local asymptomatic carriers on Thursday, according to the local health commission on Friday.

The outbreak has spread to nine of its 12 leagues and cities. Most of the infections were found in Hohhot, the regional capital.

Huang Hailong, deputy director of the city's civil affairs bureau said that residents in difficulty — such as orphans and the elderly who live alone — will be given living subsidies of 200 or 300 yuan ($28-$42) per person, as well as free vegetables, rice and oil.

COVID-hit companies can apply to delay payment of basic old-age insurance, work-related injury insurance and unemployment insurance from September to December to reduce their operating pressure, according to the Hohhot municipal human resources and social security bureau.

Zhengzhou, Henan province, reported 124 new locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,864 local asymptomatic carriers on Thursday. Eight urban areas of the city began testing on Friday.

The city hosts Foxconn's largest Apple iPhone assembly plant, whose production saw an obvious reduction due to the epidemic. Young Liu, chairman of leading electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), said at a news conference on Thursday that with support from the local government, it will control the outbreak in short order and resume full-capacity production.

He said it asks for strong management capacity to balance epidemic prevention and control, and ensure normal production in a compound with more than 200,000 workers. After taking a series of measures, the Zhengzhou plant has gradually returned to normal order.

The Chinese mainland on Thursday reported 1,150 new locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 9,385 local asymptomatic carriers, the National Health Commission said on Friday.