will be keeping a close eye on whether China’s latest efforts to stamp out the highly contagious omicron variant further disrupt the supply of a wide range of manufactured goods ranging from smartphones to household appliances and furniture, and push prices higher.COVID-19 outbreak ahead of the Winter OlympicsBut there’s a widespread expectation that political pressures are likely to keep the tough measures cemented in place well after the Winter Games have ended.
What’s more, the reduced effectiveness of Chinese vaccines means that an omicron outbreak could result in a sharp spike in hospital admissions, and deaths – a problem for a country which has relatively few intensive-care hospital beds.Morgan Stanley economists estimate that China has 4.4 intensive-care hospital beds per 100,000 people compared with about 26 in the United States and 11 in South Korea.
Manufacturing also looks set to be disrupted by lockdowns that have been imposed on several cities in Henan province, which boasts the world’s largest iPhone plant, as well as on the manufacturing cities of Zhongshan and Zhuhai.
Of cause, that’s the plan