China’s streets more deserted than during lockdowns

The abrupt cancellation of the Covid Zero policy has caused a wave of disease across the country. Consequently, traffic in China's largest cities fell to its lowest level since the beginning of the year.

The number of traffic jams in 15 major cities was 45% lower than in January 2021. The last time the traffic congestion was significantly lower in February, during the Lunar New Year. This was due to the fact that factories and restaurants closed during this period and people left the metropolitan areas to the provinces.

Due to the new cases of Covid-19, fuel demand in the country may decrease significantly. The traffic reduction is now more extensive than during lockdown.

China is struggling with the largest outbreak of Covid, which threatens to disrupt all the country's economic centres. Beijing was the first affected by the outbreak, and Shanghai is now experiencing a similar situation. Its pharmacies are selling out all medicines and businesses are closing due to staff shortages.