November 28, 2022: On Wednesday, China reported more than 31,000 Covid infections, that include cases without symptoms.

That usually passes the 29,317 high seen in mid-April, in the Shanghai lockdown, according to calculations of Wind Information data.

However, daily Covid infections with symptoms remained below the high in April. The data showed that nearly 90% or more of the Covid cases reported in the latest days have been asymptomatic.

The southern city of Guangzhou, the capital of Beijing and the southwestern municipality of Chongqing is the hardest reached by the recent Covid wave.

But almost all of China’s 31 province-level regions have said that the new Covid infections each day are with or without the symptoms.

This weekend, six Covid-related deaths have been registered as of Wednesday, mainly in Beijing.

China’s stringent Covid measures have weighed on sentiment and business activity.

National GDP barely increased during the second quarter because of the Shanghai lockdowns. As of the third quarter, the annual increase was raised by 3% from a year ago, well below the official target of around 5.5% in March.

Factories near Covid outbreaks are trying to maintain operations using closed-loop management, which requires staff to live on-site.

Business representatives have noted difficulties getting workers from locked-down neighbourhoods to factories, whereas the staff living at production sites for a more extended period are often fatigued.

During the recent Covid wave, Apple supplier Foxconn’s iPhone factory in Zhengzhou has drawn attention to videos of renewed worker unrest shared on social media. It was confusing how many of the factory’s almost 200,000 staff were involved or if there was any impact on production.

On Wednesday, Foxconn said that some recent hires had appealed to the company regarding a work allowance while stating that contrary to speculation, recent engagements would only move into disinfected dormitories.

Separately, Zhengzhou stated those living in the central part of the city should not leave their homes for five days starting this Friday while authorities conducted mass virus testing.