The Chinese has already resorted to community lockdowns as the country's Covid cases hit a record high and the situation is continuing to escalate ahead of the weekend. Here's a look at the trend in cases for Beijing over the past week (measured in the 15 hours to 3pm local time each day):
18 November - 232 new local cases
21 November - 316 new local cases
22 November - 634 new local cases
23 November - 913 new local cases
24 November - 863 new local cases
Expect the tighter restrictions to continue in China until they get a grip of the situation. In the meantime, any major re-opening talk or pivot away from its zero-Covid policy will be put on hold surely. For financial markets, this isn't good news for oil at least.