BEIJING — China’s worst Covid-19 outbreak since the initial wave of the pandemic worsened Tuesday with a major factory city ordering production halts.

China’s National Health Commission stated Tuesday that recent outbreaks of omicron-related infections in more than 15,000 people have occurred in 28 provinces. according to state media.China is home to 31 regions at the province level.

The majority of cases are in Jilin, the province to the north. However, this latest epidemic has struck. major cities such as the financial center of Shanghai and technology manufacturing hub Shenzhen.

Dienstag, Dongguan cityGuangdong, in its southern province, ordered workers to stay at home. It also locked down their homes. This allowed only the necessary activities like buying food and testing for viruses.

This city had a specific approach to production stoppages. Industrial parks without reported cases can allow businesses to continue production with strict virus control. Many factory workers live in dormitories close to their work place.

According to the announcement, local businesses are required to cease production in affected areas. They went into effect at noon on Wednesday, March 15th and will remain in place for around a week.

According to Wind Information, the most recent available data shows that Guangdong produced approximately 24% of China’s 2020 exports. With 1.09 trillion Yuan ($170.31 million) of output, Dongguan was fifth among China’s largest cities.

Dongguan has reported 9 confirmed Covid cases as well as 46 asymptomatic Covid cases on Monday. Shenzhen is also near Guangdong and reported 60 cases including some that were asymptomatic.

Monday’s total number of local cases in China was 3,507, with 1,647 being confirmed Covid cases. The majority were in Jilin province. It’s almost double the amount of cases that were reported one day prior.

China’s bureau for statistics spokeswoman downplayed Wednesday the effects of Covid-related restrictions economic activity after receiving reports better-than-expected data for January and February.

Economists have said China’s zero-Covid policy — using travel restrictions and neighborhood lockdowns to control outbreaks — affects consumer spending more than manufacturing.

The latest outbreaks are more severe than the ones China faced since early 2020, when the pandemic was at its peak.

“Our operations were significantly affected by the recent epidemics and tighter health regulations which led to a further decrease in social activities, travel, and consumption.” Yum ChinaKFC and Pizza Hut are two of the many restaurants that operate in this country. announced Monday.

According to the company, same-store sales fell about 20% in the first two week of March year-on-year. However, they are still trending down. Yum China stated that more than two-thirds of the company’s stores are now temporarily shut down or offer only delivery and takeout. These stores were more than 500 in January, but there was over 1,100 by Sunday.

Yum China’s same-store sales plunged by about 40% to 50%This was taken one year ago, during the Lunar New Year holiday 2020.

“China is set to see a sharp slowdown in March, given it is dealing with the worst Covid outbreak since 2020,” Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie, said in a note Tuesday. ”At this moment, policymakers are clearly putting COVID-zero ahead of growth.”