Chinese metropolis
Two-phase lockdown: Shanghai is locked down – but only halfway
An officer in protective gear controls access to a tunnel heading towards Shanghai’s Pudong district
© Hector RETAMAL / AFP
The Chinese metropolis of Shanghai has 25 million inhabitants. Due to increasing corona numbers, the city goes into lockdown – but initially only half. There is dissatisfaction with the short-term announcement of the two-phase lockdown.
A widespread lockdown came into force early Monday morning in the eastern and southern parts of the Chinese port city of Shanghai, which has a population of 25 million, in a fight against the rising number of corona infections. In the eastern district of Pudong, which includes a financial district and Shanghai International Airport, people are being asked not to leave their homes until Friday. The lockdown was only announced on Sunday evening and led to hamster purchases and long queues in front of supermarkets.
Because of the economic importance of Shanghai, the government wanted to avoid a lockdown there and initially only imposed the measure in some quarters. But now there should be a two-phase lockdown including mass tests of the population. Until Friday, residents in Pudong and neighboring districts such as Fengxian, Jinshan, Chongming and parts of Minhang have to stay at home and are being tested. After that, a similar lockdown will come into effect in the older part of the metropolis west of the Huangpu River, where testing will continue until Monday. Infected people are isolated in facilities.
Lockdown in Shanghai causes trouble and incomprehension
This procedure should stop the transmission of the corona virus “as soon as possible”, the authorities said. They did not say how the lockdown would affect the international airport and Shanghai’s important port.
The lockdown in Shanghai came as a surprise, as rumors had been denied the day before. The short-term announcement of the lockdown was met with anger and incomprehension among the population. “We really don’t understand Shanghai’s management and control measures,” said a 59-year-old man who queued outside a grocery store and gave his name only as Gao. “After such a long time” the city has “still not brought the corona outbreak under control and the numbers are increasing”.
Residential areas are sealed off, but food and other goods should continue to be delivered by courier services if they can be handed over without contact. Public transport, ferries and taxis have stopped operating.
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China’s zero-Covid strategy put to the test
On Sunday, 50 local diseases and 3,450 asymptomatic infections were detected in Shanghai, the Beijing Health Commission reported. Nationally, 1219 local infections and 5134 asymptomatic cases were reported. Shanghai and the northeast Chinese province of Jilin are the most severely affected regions.
China is pursuing a zero-Covid strategy, which has been put to the test with the arrival of the more propagating Omicron variant since the beginning of the year. Until then, the authorities had successfully combated minor outbreaks with curfews, mass testing, contact tracing and quarantine. Life in China has been largely normal for almost two years, but the country has closed itself off to other countries.
The southern Chinese economic metropolis of Shenzhen has meanwhile reported progress in the fight against the pandemic. After a strict lockdown came into force in the city of 17 million people two weeks ago, a return to normality in economic life was possible on Monday, the authorities said.