Shanghai: Tension is rising Shanghai As residents see the Covid-19 caseload ticking higher, fueling fears that they are back in lockdown more than five weeks after coming out of a two-month ordeal.
The city reported 59 new infections on Monday, the fourth day in a row that the number of cases topped 50. The sharp increase from single digits nearly a week ago follows the detection of the more infectious Ba.5 sub-strain of the Omicron variant, which hit nine of the financial center’s 16 districts as well as other regions between Tuesday and Thursday this week. Two additional rounds of mass testing have been started where cases have been found.
China’s strict COVID zero approach is being tested once again as the nationwide outbreak erupts amid the arrival of a sub-version that has fueled a rising caseload elsewhere. Already, some 30 million people across the country are under some form of movement restrictions to prevent transmission, but officials have so far clarified strict lockdowns in key economic sectors.
The nation reported 347 cases for Monday. A cluster has emerged in Henan province, which reported 73 cases, while Guangdong province – which borders Hong Kong and Macau – posted 42 cases.
China’s benchmark CSI 300 index was up nearly 0.2% in Tuesday’s trade after falling 1.7% on Monday amid fears of another lockdown in Shanghai.
For residents of Shanghai, where authorities declared victory over the virus only last month, multiple rounds of testing and the lockdown of individual residential complexes are reviving hard memories. The drastic measures sealed the population inside their homes for much of April and May, struggled to reliably access food and medical care, demanded a huge economic toll and some of the strongest anti-government sentiment in years. Raised up
Case numbers are on the rise once again and officials deny speculation that the lockdown is coming, likely a return to the strictest principles of Covid Zero – a strategy that has isolated China from the post-pandemic world It is a hot topic of discussion in the city of 25 lakhs.
A Shanghai cab driver named Cui said, “Whenever we saw some hope of recovery in business in June, the Covid flare-up. It’s like a curse.” “We’re losing money everyday. I don’t think I can hang out there for very long.”
Cui, who did not want to give his full name for fear of repercussions, said that with Shanghai’s lockdown easing in early June, business was just 30% of normal levels that month to cover rent costs. was not enough. his taxi. “I wonder how those policy makers would feel if all civilians were put to death across the country,” he said.
Architect Maggie Xu, 40, is responding to the growing number of cases by getting organized.
Xu has ordered 8 kilograms (18 pounds) of rice, 30 rolls of toilet paper, a large bottle of cooking oil, and bags of salt and sugar. During previous lockdowns, Xu organized group purchases for residents at his premises in Shanghai’s Pudong area – a major way to get groceries in the form of official delivery – and he has had to lock down some orders from neighbors over the past few days. requests have been received. ,
“While rational thinking tells me it’s unlikely we’ll have another citywide lockdown because it will certainly lead to social upheaval, fear is spreading among people, including me,” she said. “I hate the uncertainties we face every day. We don’t know whether we will be locked up at home tomorrow or sent to quarantine hotels. We can’t make any plans right now.”
China sends all positive Covid cases and their close contacts to government-run isolation facilities, a key tenet of a strategy hailed as early as the original Wuhan outbreak. But with the rest of the world moving on from the pandemic, China, with its ongoing, fanatical anti-virus methods, has been an outlier with the president. Xi Jinping Refuting what he calls the “lying flat” view of the West.
The reality of the lockdown has already hit parts of Shanghai after authorities sealed off buildings, or traced close contacts of someone who tested positive.
An apartment block in eastern Shanghai was notified by authorities on the evening of July 10 that it would be closed after a resident tested positive during a business trip outside the city. According to one of the residents, the order created a ruckus, with people saying that it would hinder students preparing to sit for the high school entrance exam.
People also questioned the logic of locking down the entire campus, pointing out that the positive case was outside the residential premises since July 8, and the residents of the premises were all testing negative for two days.
A housing complex in central Shanghai that houses more than 4,000 people has been closed since July 7 after a case was found. Residents living in the same building as the infected person have been confined to their apartments for a week, while everyone else has been barred from leaving the premises. If more cases are found in four rounds of PCR testing, the lockdown will be extended.
When the lockdown was announced on WeChat rooms for residents, some reacted with anger and disbelief.
“That’s it,” read one post. “We’ve made pretty ridiculous moves in the last four months.”
“Covid containment policy is being implemented on the ground. Who cares about our human rights?” asked another neighbor.
The city reported 59 new infections on Monday, the fourth day in a row that the number of cases topped 50. The sharp increase from single digits nearly a week ago follows the detection of the more infectious Ba.5 sub-strain of the Omicron variant, which hit nine of the financial center’s 16 districts as well as other regions between Tuesday and Thursday this week. Two additional rounds of mass testing have been started where cases have been found.
China’s strict COVID zero approach is being tested once again as the nationwide outbreak erupts amid the arrival of a sub-version that has fueled a rising caseload elsewhere. Already, some 30 million people across the country are under some form of movement restrictions to prevent transmission, but officials have so far clarified strict lockdowns in key economic sectors.
The nation reported 347 cases for Monday. A cluster has emerged in Henan province, which reported 73 cases, while Guangdong province – which borders Hong Kong and Macau – posted 42 cases.
China’s benchmark CSI 300 index was up nearly 0.2% in Tuesday’s trade after falling 1.7% on Monday amid fears of another lockdown in Shanghai.
For residents of Shanghai, where authorities declared victory over the virus only last month, multiple rounds of testing and the lockdown of individual residential complexes are reviving hard memories. The drastic measures sealed the population inside their homes for much of April and May, struggled to reliably access food and medical care, demanded a huge economic toll and some of the strongest anti-government sentiment in years. Raised up
Case numbers are on the rise once again and officials deny speculation that the lockdown is coming, likely a return to the strictest principles of Covid Zero – a strategy that has isolated China from the post-pandemic world It is a hot topic of discussion in the city of 25 lakhs.
A Shanghai cab driver named Cui said, “Whenever we saw some hope of recovery in business in June, the Covid flare-up. It’s like a curse.” “We’re losing money everyday. I don’t think I can hang out there for very long.”
Cui, who did not want to give his full name for fear of repercussions, said that with Shanghai’s lockdown easing in early June, business was just 30% of normal levels that month to cover rent costs. was not enough. his taxi. “I wonder how those policy makers would feel if all civilians were put to death across the country,” he said.
Architect Maggie Xu, 40, is responding to the growing number of cases by getting organized.
Xu has ordered 8 kilograms (18 pounds) of rice, 30 rolls of toilet paper, a large bottle of cooking oil, and bags of salt and sugar. During previous lockdowns, Xu organized group purchases for residents at his premises in Shanghai’s Pudong area – a major way to get groceries in the form of official delivery – and he has had to lock down some orders from neighbors over the past few days. requests have been received. ,
“While rational thinking tells me it’s unlikely we’ll have another citywide lockdown because it will certainly lead to social upheaval, fear is spreading among people, including me,” she said. “I hate the uncertainties we face every day. We don’t know whether we will be locked up at home tomorrow or sent to quarantine hotels. We can’t make any plans right now.”
China sends all positive Covid cases and their close contacts to government-run isolation facilities, a key tenet of a strategy hailed as early as the original Wuhan outbreak. But with the rest of the world moving on from the pandemic, China, with its ongoing, fanatical anti-virus methods, has been an outlier with the president. Xi Jinping Refuting what he calls the “lying flat” view of the West.
The reality of the lockdown has already hit parts of Shanghai after authorities sealed off buildings, or traced close contacts of someone who tested positive.
An apartment block in eastern Shanghai was notified by authorities on the evening of July 10 that it would be closed after a resident tested positive during a business trip outside the city. According to one of the residents, the order created a ruckus, with people saying that it would hinder students preparing to sit for the high school entrance exam.
People also questioned the logic of locking down the entire campus, pointing out that the positive case was outside the residential premises since July 8, and the residents of the premises were all testing negative for two days.
A housing complex in central Shanghai that houses more than 4,000 people has been closed since July 7 after a case was found. Residents living in the same building as the infected person have been confined to their apartments for a week, while everyone else has been barred from leaving the premises. If more cases are found in four rounds of PCR testing, the lockdown will be extended.
When the lockdown was announced on WeChat rooms for residents, some reacted with anger and disbelief.
“That’s it,” read one post. “We’ve made pretty ridiculous moves in the last four months.”
“Covid containment policy is being implemented on the ground. Who cares about our human rights?” asked another neighbor.