Companies in one of China’s key business regions have been forced to halt productions due to an outbreak of COVID-19 infections, state media said on Tuesday.
No less than 20 listed companies said they had temporarily halted productions in Zhejiang Province, with chemical companies, pharmaceutical firms and machine manufacturers affected.
The closures were ordered by the authorities in order to prevent the virus from spreading further.
The outbreak in the eastern Chinese province, where more than 200 infections have been detected since Dec.5, is so far concentrated mainly in the cities of Ningbo, Shaoxing and Hangzhou, according to authorities.
China has largely prevented the spread of the coronavirus since last year but the authorities clamped down immediately to contain recurrent local outbreaks by often imposing curfews and mass testing.
The measures are frequently disruptive to business but the government argues that the damage would be far greater if cases spread nationwide.
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China reported 51 new cases of the virus on Tuesday, countrywide.
Over 20 firms stop production due to outbreak of virus in China
