BEIJING: Railway journeys in China during the usually frenetic Lunar New Yr vacation travel rush are down by almost 70 percent amid calls for individuals to stay where they’re to avoid a new outbreak of COVID-19.
The China State Railway Group on Saturday reported 52.33 million passenger trips from Jan 28 to Feb 11 – a decline of 68.8 percent from the same period last yr.
The travel rush is usually considered the world’s largest annual human migration, when city residents, migrant staff, and college students return to their hometowns for household gatherings.
Air and bus travel are also down significantly, however, one figure is up China’s box office receipts smashed the previous one-day record on Friday, the first day of the new Chinese Yr of the Ox, bringing in more than 1.736 billion yuan (US$269 million), ticket agency Maoyan mentioned.
The full economic effect of the restrictions on vacation spending is not but clear. Buddhist and Daoist temples that usually are packed with worshippers were ordered closed, together with the seasonal outdoor fairs.
Streets in main cities were largely empty but home deliveries of meals and household items remain strong, partly because individuals staying home and not visiting friends and family to deliver gifts in person. The Official China daily newspaper mentioned deliveries surged by 223 percent year-on-year on the eve of Chinese New Yr and the next day, with more than 130 million packages distributed.
While most of the economies have reopened, strict masks wearing, electronic monitoring and periodic lockdowns have helped virtually eliminate domestic coronavirus cases.
Chinese hospitals are currently treating 763 patients, 12 of whom were listed in serious condition, while another 470 individuals were being monitored in isolation for having tested positive for the virus without displaying symptoms.
