The southern Chinese manufacturing hub Guangzhou is the latest to see lockdowns amid a surge in COVID cases, adding to financial pressure that has disrupted global supply chains and sharply slowed growth in the world’s second-largest economy, the Associated Press reported. Residents in districts encompassing almost 5 million people have been ordered to stay home at least through Sunday, with one member of each family allowed out once per day to purchase necessities, local authorities said Wednesday. The order came after the densely populated city of 13 million reported more than 2,500 new cases over the previous 24 hours.
In the U.S., known cases of COVID are climbing again for the first time in a few months. The daily average for new cases stood at 39,578 on Tuesday, according to a New York Times tracker, up 5% versus two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was up 3% at 27,713, while the daily average for deaths is down 14% to 308. Globally, the confirmed case tally rose above 633.5 million on Wednesday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins, while the death toll is above 6.60 million with the U.S. leading the world with 97.8 million cases and 1,072,943 deaths.
