As Covid rises, Shanghai is in two-phased lockdown for mass testing
Key Takeaways:
- A new round of nucleic acid testing began on Monday, putting millions of people in Shanghai, China's economic capital, on lockdown.
- According to state media, shelves at a local supermarket in the city had been emptied by late Sunday night, according to a resident.
- On the mainland, there were 144,515 confirmed Covid-19 cases, both local and imported, as of Sunday.
On Monday, millions of people in Shanghai, China's economic capital, were put on a staggering lockdown as a new round of nucleic acid testing began, following a steady rise in asymptomatic Covid-19 cases in recent weeks.
Beginning today, Shanghai's entire population of about 25 million people will be tested for Covid-19 in a two-phased lockdown that will last nine days.
As cases – particularly asymptomatic ones – continued to pile up for weeks, Shanghai authorities announced the emergency lockdown on Sunday.
It's the city's largest Covid-19-related lockdown since the virus was first discovered in Wuhan, central China, in late 2019.
The two lockdown phases were decided along with the Huangpu river's flow: on Monday, the area east of the river was locked down, and on Tuesday, the area west of the river was locked down. "Then, primarily in urban districts west of the Huangpu River, similar temporary closed-off management, as well as testing, will be launched from 3 a.m. on April 1 to 3 a.m. on April 5," according to a Shanghai municipal government statement.
"In affected areas, closed-off management will be implemented in residential communities, and residents will be required to remain indoors, with non-contact delivery of necessities permitted," the statement continued.
In the areas under closed management, transportation services such as bus, subway, ferry, taxi, and online ride-hailing will be suspended.
Residents in affected areas formed long lines to stock up on essentials at the lockdown started.
According to a resident, according to state media, shelves at a local supermarket in the city had been emptied by late Sunday night.
Authorities announced on Monday that they had put in place measures to ensure that daily necessities are supplied and available as usual.
During this round of outbreak, Shanghai reported a new high of 50 locally transmitted Covid-19 symptomatic cases and 3,450 locally transmitted asymptomatic infections on Monday.
"The coexistence of regional clusters as well as sporadic cases distributed across the entire city characterizes this round of epidemic in Shanghai," Wu Fan, a leading expert from Shanghai's Covid-19 medical team, said on Monday, according to state media.
According to Wu, strict measures must be taken to reduce personnel flow, find hidden infections, and stop transmission between communities.
According to the national health commission, the mainland reported 6,215 new domestic cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, with 1,219 symptomatic and 4,996 asymptomatic cases (NHC).
In the northeastern province of Jilin, 1,086 symptomatic local infections were reported.
As of Sunday, 144,515 confirmed Covid-19 cases on the mainland, both local and imported.
There were 27,745 confirmed Covid-19 cases currently undergoing treatment, with 58 in critical condition.
According to the NHC, since the outbreak of the disease, 4,638 people have died from the virus on the mainland.