Shanghai Covid Surge Forces City To Go Into Phased Lockdown

Shanghai facing a surge in Covid-19 cases will seal off residential communities and suspend public transportation for Covid-19 testing for four days beginning Monday, Chinese news agency Global Times reported.

Shanghai reported 45 confirmed cases and 2,631 asymptomatic cases on Sunday. Following the spike in the number of cases, the Shanghai local authorities announced that they will begin ‘fresh round of partitioned and grid-based’ testing to achieve dynamic zero cases in a quick manner.

A separate report by the New York Times said that the city east and west will be locked down on separate dates. The report said restrictions and mass testing will start Monday morning in areas east of the Huangpu river and last until Friday. Districts west of the river will begin testing and restrictions from Friday and continue until April 5. Both sides of the city are divided by the Huangpu river.

Residents in Shanghai were asked to remain indoors with unnecessary movement banned until further orders. Public transport will halt their operations in the economic hub. Essential items needed by people will be delivered in a contactless fashion. Offices were told that their employees will have to work from home.

Health experts in China said that Shenzhen also closed itself down for seven days to arrest the spread of the cases and hoped that Shanghai could force a similar drop in the number of cases with the help of targeted lockdowns. The experts while speaking to Global Times said that the Shenzhen-Shanghai model could offer a trial for future policies in cities facing outbreaks.

A professor at the University of Hong Kong told Global Times that testing by separating the city into two halves would prevent Shanghai from entirely shutting down.

While many nations have moved to living with Covid-19, China still continues to follow its zero-Covid policy but since the Omicron surge have made some changes to its former policies. China now allows people to take self-antigen tests and allows for quarantining at places other than designated venues but still continues to lock down cities and conducts mass testing of its citizens in regions and cities facing Covid surge.

Read the Latest News and Breaking News here