INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: China's Covid troubles are far from over.First, the strict zero-Covid policy denied its huge population the hybrid immunity that
most of the world relied upon
The result- a massive surge in infections driven primarily by the Omicron variant in late 2022
It also impacted the economy with factories closed and a slump in demands.Then, amid accusations of data manipulation, came the revelation
that China's hospitals saw a staggering 60,000 Covid deaths in a month since early December
And that could still be just a tenth of total fatalities, by some estimates.And then came the withdrawal of zero-Covid policy and easing of
Covid norms, in what seemed a knee-jerk reaction to simmering anger and protests.The consequence- a whole new source of turmoil that
country.The abrupt policy shift has precipitated an unforeseen tsunami of job losses, with many firms unable to pay employers and enforcing
But now, Covid testing is no longer in high demand.China's vast machinery of virus surveillance and testing collapsed once the strict
zero-Covid policy was abruptly scrapped, almost overnight.Companies that manufactured test kits and analyzed results in a lab are seeing
their revenues plummet, leading to lay offs and pay cuts for their workers, an article in The New York Times (NYT) said.Quoting a report, it
After the slump in demand for Covid-related products and services, factories across China are still strapped for cash amid the broader
slowdown.Many low-level government workers charged with enforcing Covid restrictions, have been let go, muddying an already volatile labor
for Trivium China, a consulting firm.Protests on China's streets, before and after zero-CovidIn the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing,
hundreds of workers locked in a pay dispute with a Covid test kit manufacturer clashed with policemen in riot gear
They kicked and tossed boxes of rapid antigen tests on to the ground, sending thousands of tests spilling
A video uploaded on Twitter (not vefiried by TOI) claimed to show a protest by laid off workers at a plant in the city.In the eastern city
of Hangzhou, witnesses said several workers climbed on the roof of a test kit factory and threatened to jump to protest unpaid furloughs
At another factory in the city, workers protested for days over a wage dispute.A tense standoff between the police and hundreds of workers
at a factory devolved into a shoving match, a video showed
Dozens of them were taken away by the police, NYT quoted eyewitnesses as saying."Workers have next to no recourse to resolve their
grievances other than to lash out," said Li Qiang, founder and executive director of China Labor Watch, a New York-based Chinese labor
other pandemic controls, money was diverted from public projects in some provinces, while cities cut bonuses for officials and imposed pay
reaped huge windfalls began reporting that governments were late on payments, leaving them exposed to bad debt, the article in NYT said.A
fast-growing testing firm that opened six new labs across China in October, shuttered half of them in the last few weeks
It was unclear if the closures were spurred by debt or a lack of business.
