Industrial shutdown: Omicron variant detected in Chinese industrial city

02/18/2022 / By Mary Villareal

Officials ordered a partial shutdown of Suzhou, a major industrial city in China, after the omicron variant of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVD-19) was detected in the area. The government is now ramping up their testing, along with other pandemic measures.

A top city official said the trading and industrial hub located in the eastern province of Jiangsu has reported 35 infections with confirmed symptoms. Considering that the Chinese regime is known for grossly underreporting its numbers, the official number is not likely to reflect the true total.

The new infections are said to be linked to the Suzhou Industrial Park, a key high-tech development zone that hosts over 100,000 companies. It also accommodates the manufacturing facilities of many foreign firms, including Samsung, Bosch and Eli Lilly.

In response to the outbreak, authorities immediately shut down 15 highway entrances into the city one day after suspending long-distance bus services. It also locked down buildings, urging citizens not to leave their homes for non-essential reasons.

Local officials also labeled the park as a risk area, and started mass screenings early Monday morning, February 14.

COVID containment measures could worsen global chip shortage

Experts suggest that the COVID containment measures of the park may send ripples across the global supply of semiconductors, which is already in a crunch after the pandemic-related disruptions in production.

The world-leading chipmaker, United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), said production was temporarily suspended at its eight-inch wafer fabrication subsidiary in the park. Its unit operating the Suzhou plant, Hejian Technology, is required to take a company-wide PCR test because one employee is suspected of having COVID-19 infection.

Some clients like China-based Silergy Corp. are affected by the temporary closure. “If Hejian is unable to resume due to the pandemic, it will cause significant impact on the company’s production and operation,” the company said. (Related: VAX FAIL: Spanish study finds omicron spreads AT THE SAME RATE among vaccinated and unvaccinated people.)

If the chip supply falls short of demand, the temporary closure of the plant and the production suspension of the industrial park will impact the supply chains. However, the effects remain unclear as the length of the suspension and the scale of the lockdown are still to be determined.

There had been two rounds of testing completed as of Wednesday, February 16, and around 6,000 individuals were sent to centralized quarantine, according to the park’s deputy director.

Automotive supplier Robert Bosch also said that they are expecting a short-term impact on manufacturing and logistics operations in Suzhou, as local office staffers were working from home. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics Co. halted production after an employee tested positive.

Officials have locked down affected buildings and have urged people to stay at home. They also organized mass screenings and limited highway access as part of China’s zero-COVID strategy. (Related: Forced covid lockdowns in China are starving people to death.)

The city closed 18 more highway entrances on Wednesday. People who want to leave the city will need to present proof of negative test results within 48 hours. To prevent further flare-ups from spilling into other cities, Suzhou also suspended subways and bus services to the neighboring city of Shanghai.

Jiangsu Province Chinese Communist Party Secretary Wu Zhenglong demanded departments to “improve their political awareness” and make every effort in combating the virus. He also required officials to take better measures as two important political meetings will be held in the next month.