Briefs | Shenzhen finds new local Covid-19 cases, shutters stores

A supermarket worker in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and five others tested positive for Covid-19, forcing the closure of some stores as officials act to damp a resurgence of the virus. A 41-year-old woman who sells yogurt at a supermarket run by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in the tech boomtown was diagnosed with the illness after visiting a doctor on Wednesday, Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission said late Friday night. Five others who tested positive have yet to show any symptoms, local authorities said. Health authorities in the region have sealed off the supermarket and the residential compound the woman lives in. The Alibaba-backed supermarket operator Hema said on Saturday that it has shuttered 21 stores in the city to sterilize and test all its employees and fresh foods. The local government is providing free testing for anyone who has visited the market in the past four weeks. It isn’t yet known how the supermarket worker contracted the virus.

Hong Kong cuts economic forecast to record low on virus

The Hong Kong government has revised its 2020 forecast for the city’s economy to a record low range of -6% to -8% amid the global coronavirus pandemic and rising trade tensions. A decline to the upper end of the projected range would still surpass the previous record low contraction of -5.9% in 1998, according to data since at least 1962 compiled by Bloomberg. Hong Kong’s economy has also never posted consecutive years of economic decline, the data show. Hong Kong’s recession deepened further this year as the virus sapped tourism demand and local consumption following months of political unrest. The city now faces multiple headwinds including a recent third wave of virus infections, as well as growing concern over its future as an Asian financial hub after Beijing’s imposition of a national security law.

China plans to expand digital yuan tests to other major cities

China has outlined plans for further tests of its digital currency initiative, now aiming for trials in areas including Beijing and Hong Kong. A digital renminbi trial will start in some of the country’s most developed regions, the Commerce Ministry said in an announcement on Friday that didn’t provide a timeline. Tests will take place in the area of northern China encompassing Beijing, coastal city Tianjin and Hebei Province; the city cluster in the Yangtze River Delta region including Shanghai; and the Greater Bay Area in the Pearl River Delta Region including Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau. The digital currency trials are part of a broader package of initiatives Beijing is rolling out to stimulate innovation and encourage further opening of its service sector. China has been ramping up plans and testing for the People’s Bank of China digital currency in recent months, an initiative that some see as a threat to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and even potentially someday to the U.S. dollar’s dominance.