'Stay indoors, leave only to get COVID test': China's Shanghai tightens lockdown rules
While Shanghai's incidence remains low by global standards – a record 4,381 asymptomatic cases and 96 symptomatic cases on Monday – the city has become a trial ground for China's "zero-COVID" plan as it attempts to manage the highly contagious Omicron form.
FollowAs the number of new daily cases surpassed 4,400, China's most populous city tightened the first phase of a two-stage Covid-19 lockdown on Tuesday, ordering certain citizens to stay indoors unless they are being tested.
Shanghai, home to 26 million people, is in its second day under a lockdown imposed by authorities. The city has been divided approximately along the Huangpu River, separating the historic centre from the eastern financial and industrial sector of Pudong to allow for staggered testing.
While Shanghai's incidence remains low by global standards – a record 4,381 asymptomatic cases and 96 symptomatic cases on Monday – the city has become a trial ground for China's "zero-COVID" plan as it attempts to manage the highly contagious Omicron form.
To limit the danger of infection, residents should avoid walking in corridors, garages, or open areas of their residential compounds, according to Wu Qianyu, an official with the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, at a briefing on Tuesday. This involves taking care of pets.
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The tougher lockdown guidelines came a day after the Chinese financial metropolis began locking off its 25 million residents in two stages, with half of the city locked down for four days and the other half locked down for four days. The objective is to test the whole city for Covid-19 as part of the campaign to contain the virus's largest outbreak to date.
On China's social media, there were rising signals of dissatisfaction, and scores of locals raced to the Weibo site to seek assistance for relatives, with some struggling to acquire medical care.
Though China is adhering to its plan to contain the outbreak, international experts are sceptical about lockdowns in the face of a highly contagious new type.
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