Shanghai, China, denies rumours of lockdown as daily Covid cases approach 1,000

Key Takeaways:

• After a sixth consecutive increase in daily asymptomatic coronavirus cases pushed the count to record levels, authorities in Shanghai denied rumors of a city-wide lockdown.

Although a campaign of mass testing aspired at stifling the spread, authorities in Shanghai have denied rumors of a city-wide lockdown after a sixth consecutive increase in daily asymptomatic coronavirus cases pushed the count to record levels.

By global standards, the latest outbreak in China's prosperous commercial hub is minor.

However, the testing campaign, which saw many people imprisoned for days in residential compounds, is in line with Beijing's national "dynamic clearance" policy, which aims to eliminate flare-ups as quickly as possible.

New local content is added on a daily basis. COVID- On Tuesday, 19 infections in Shanghai approached 1,000, but officials pledged to use a "slicing and gridding" approach to screen neighborhoods one by one rather than shutting down completely.

The rumors of a lockdown sparked panic buying late Tuesday night, with delivery slots on Alibaba's "Freshhippo" app running out a minute after midnight.

On its Weibo microblog site, the city government said, "Please do not believe and spread rumors."

Several streets, as well as residential compounds, had been unsealed after testing, according to city health official Wu Jinglei, but some areas will be tested again on Wednesday and Thursday as the focus of the city's efforts is narrowed.

Wu said at a news conference on Wednesday that the city is using two stadiums as quarantine facilities for mild cases and asymptomatic carriers.

A few subway stations were also shut down on Wednesday, according to the company in charge of the system, citing COVID-19 controls.

As per the data from the National Health Commission (NHC), the municipality reported 977 domestically transmitted asymptomatic diseases on Tuesday, up from 865 the day before.

It also reported four local cases with declared symptoms, down from 31 the day before, which China counts separately.

While some compounds were reopened, others remained closed for several more days in order to break transmission chains. After a neighbor tested positive, some residents claimed they would be quarantined for two weeks.

Authorities should lock down the city, according to one resident who posted on Weibo under the username "Zhang Fan's Viewpoint," to end the uncertainty caused by 48-hour lockdowns for testing that are frequently extended.

"This endless loop of 48 hours, 48 hours, 48 hours is more likely to cause ordinary people to lose control of their emotions," the resident said. "It would be better to directly notify 6, eight, or even 14 days."

"In these circumstances, a single payment is preferable to installment payments."

According to NHC data, mainland China reported 2,591 locally transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms on Tuesday, up from 2,281 the day before. The rate of new local asymptomatic cases increased to 2,346 from 2,313 the day before.

Tangshan, the world's largest steelmaking city, announced late Tuesday that residents who are not important workers must stay at home unless there is an emergency or they must be tested. The city govt did not say when the lockdown would be lifted throughout the city.

Shenyang, a city in northeast China, has also declared that its 9 million residents will be subjected to three more rounds of testing from Thursday to March 30, in addition to the three already completed.

By March 22, mainland China had reported 137,231 cases with confirmed symptoms, including both local and international cases. There were no fresh deaths, bringing the total number of people killed to 4,638.

The coronavirus was 1st discovered in late 2019 in Wuhan, China's central city.