Lockdowns in two major Chinese manufacturing cities have begun relaxing, in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, last week. Two weeks ago, Guangzhou became the latest major manufacturing city to lock down schools and travel, with fears that the lockdowns could spread to the manufacturing sector. However, last week, case numbers fell for several consecutive days in both Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

New Shenzhen symptomatic cases dropped to zero for some days last week. Shenzhen continues to see a large number of cases imported from Hong Kong, accounting for 19 of the 21. The remaining two imported cases both came from Japan.

In response to the falling number of Guangzhou cases, several previously locked-down areas in Baiyun, Panyu, Yuexiu and Haizhu districts have been lifted.

Many schools in Guangzhou have resumed in-person teaching and Foshan announced that people can now leave the city without needing a negative nucleic acid test issued within 48 hours.

For Shanghai, though, case numbers are dropping slowly, keeping the city in a terrible lockdown for more than a month. Shanghai reported 24,820 cases on April 17^th and 17,468 cases on April 22^nd. My own friend in Shanghai reports that food shortages are becoming a significant problem for the poor and migrant workers.

David Shiller

David Shiller is the Publisher of LightNOW, and President of Lighting Solution Development, a North American consulting firm providing business development services to advanced lighting manufacturers. The ALA awarded David the Pillar of the Industry Award. David has co-chaired ALA’s Engineering Committee since 2010. David established MaxLite’s OEM component sales into a multi-million dollar division. He invented GU24 lamps while leading ENERGY STAR lighting programs for the US EPA. David has been published in leading lighting publications, including LD+A, enLIGHTenment Magazine, LEDs Magazine, and more.

See Full Bio