Shanghai tightened again the first phase of a two-stage Covid-19 lockdown on Tuesday. As the number of daily cases went beyond 4,400, the Shanghai authorities have asked the residents to stay indoors unless they need to get tested.
Shanghai is China’s financial hub and is home to around 26 million people. In the second day of the recent lockdown, local authorities are dividing the city roughly along the Huangpu River, splitting the historic centre from the Pudong business in the east and industrial district to help in speedy testing.
Even though the cases in Shanghai remain moderate as per the global standards, a record 4,381 asymptomatic cases and 96 symptomatic cases for March 28, the city has turned into a testing ground for China’s “zero-Covid” strategy when it is trying to bring under control the highly infectious Omicron variant of the Covid.
Citizens in the east of the Huangpu were at first locked down in housing compounds on Monday, but were generally allowed to roam around within. However, on Tuesday the residents were informed by their neighbourhood committees that they were no longer allowed to cross their doorsteps.
Chinese state media’s drone footage showed deserted streets around the high-rise buildings of the city’s Lujiazui financial district in Pudong. Public transport has been completely halted in the east, and unapproved vehicles have been totally barred from coming on to the roads.
At the same time, in the western part of the city, the Shanghai Stock Exchange has kept the minimal staff in the office meant for certain important positions such as trading and technical system operations, while others have been asked to work from home.
Meanwhile, the citizens in the west of the city were seen rushing to the vegetable markets and grocery stores so as to stock up anticipating the 1st of April to be the start date of their lockdown.
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