Shanghai: Shanghai Officials say they will take major steps Wednesday toward reopening China’s largest city after two months covid-19 lockdown Which has taken a back seat to the national economy and largely confined millions of people to their homes.
Already, a steady stream of people were strolling in dam, the city’s historic waterfront park, on a pleasant Tuesday night, with some taking selfies against the bright lights of the Pudong financial district on the other side of the river. Elsewhere, people gathered outside to eat and drink under the watch of police deployed to prevent large crowds from forming.
High school senior Lu Kexin, who visited the Bund for the first time since late March, said she had gone mad after being stuck in the house for so long. She said, “I am very happy, extremely happy, all over, very happy.” “I can die.”
vice Mayor zong ming announced that full bus and metro service would be restored on Wednesday, as would basic rail connections with the rest of China. Schools will partially reopen on a voluntary basis, and shopping malls, supermarkets, convenience stores and drug stores will reopen gradually at more than 75% of their total capacity. Cinemas And gyms will remain closed.
“The epidemic has been effectively controlled,” Zong said, adding that the city will enter a phase of fully restoring work and life on Wednesday.
Officials, who have set June 1 as the target date for the first reopening in May, have been set to gradually ease in recent days. Some malls and markets have reopened, and some residents have been allowed outside for a few hours at a time. In online chat groups, some expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of being able to move freely in the city for the first time since the end of March, while others remained cautious given the slow pace and nature of the closures. far.
Workers removed some of the barriers put up on the footpaths during the lockdown. Some people still walked or biked the mostly empty streets. A man got his hair cut on the sidewalk, a common sight in recent times, when a worker or volunteer was seen in full protective clothing.
More than half a million people in the city of 25 million will not be allowed out on Wednesday – 190,000 who are still in lockdown zones and another 450,000 who are in containment zones because they live near recent cases.
Shanghai reported 29 new cases on Monday, continuing a steady decline of more than 20,000 a day in April. li qiangThe top official of China’s ruling Communist Party in Shanghai was quoted as saying at a meeting on Monday that the city had made great achievements in fighting the outbreak through relentless struggle.
Success came at a cost. Authorities imposed a suffocating citywide lockdown as part of China’s “zero-Covid” strategy, which aims to contain any outbreak with large-scale testing and isolation of any infected person at centralized facilities.
Huge temporary facilities were set up at exhibition centers and other places to house the thousands of people who tested positive. Teams of health care and other workers flew in from across the country to help run the massive undertaking.
Factories were closed, or allowed to operate only when workers slept on site to prevent the spread of the virus. Lower production at semiconductor plants added to the global chip shortage. The containers were returned to the port of Shanghai to transport them to their destinations due to a shortage of truck drivers.
All this though, leaders of the ruling Communist Party have repeatedly expressed their determination to stick to a “zero-COVID” policy, even as other countries have opened their borders and vowed to “live with the virus”. are trying External economists widely expect China to fall short of its 5.5% growth target for this year.
However, the latest economic data showed that Chinese manufacturing activity had resumed in May as the government rolled back some containment measures.
Schools will reopen for the last two years of high school and the third year of middle school, but students can decide whether to attend in person. Other grades and kindergartens remain closed.
The Shanghai Tourism Authority said outdoor tourist sites would begin to reopen from Wednesday, with indoor sites to follow in late June. Group tours from other provinces will be allowed again after the city has exhausted all high- and medium-risk epidemic zones.
The country’s capital Beijing on Tuesday further eased restrictions in some districts. The city imposed a limited lockdown, but nothing near city level, in the very small outbreak that appears to have occurred. 18 new cases were reported in Beijing on Monday.
Already, a steady stream of people were strolling in dam, the city’s historic waterfront park, on a pleasant Tuesday night, with some taking selfies against the bright lights of the Pudong financial district on the other side of the river. Elsewhere, people gathered outside to eat and drink under the watch of police deployed to prevent large crowds from forming.
High school senior Lu Kexin, who visited the Bund for the first time since late March, said she had gone mad after being stuck in the house for so long. She said, “I am very happy, extremely happy, all over, very happy.” “I can die.”
vice Mayor zong ming announced that full bus and metro service would be restored on Wednesday, as would basic rail connections with the rest of China. Schools will partially reopen on a voluntary basis, and shopping malls, supermarkets, convenience stores and drug stores will reopen gradually at more than 75% of their total capacity. Cinemas And gyms will remain closed.
“The epidemic has been effectively controlled,” Zong said, adding that the city will enter a phase of fully restoring work and life on Wednesday.
Officials, who have set June 1 as the target date for the first reopening in May, have been set to gradually ease in recent days. Some malls and markets have reopened, and some residents have been allowed outside for a few hours at a time. In online chat groups, some expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of being able to move freely in the city for the first time since the end of March, while others remained cautious given the slow pace and nature of the closures. far.
Workers removed some of the barriers put up on the footpaths during the lockdown. Some people still walked or biked the mostly empty streets. A man got his hair cut on the sidewalk, a common sight in recent times, when a worker or volunteer was seen in full protective clothing.
More than half a million people in the city of 25 million will not be allowed out on Wednesday – 190,000 who are still in lockdown zones and another 450,000 who are in containment zones because they live near recent cases.
Shanghai reported 29 new cases on Monday, continuing a steady decline of more than 20,000 a day in April. li qiangThe top official of China’s ruling Communist Party in Shanghai was quoted as saying at a meeting on Monday that the city had made great achievements in fighting the outbreak through relentless struggle.
Success came at a cost. Authorities imposed a suffocating citywide lockdown as part of China’s “zero-Covid” strategy, which aims to contain any outbreak with large-scale testing and isolation of any infected person at centralized facilities.
Huge temporary facilities were set up at exhibition centers and other places to house the thousands of people who tested positive. Teams of health care and other workers flew in from across the country to help run the massive undertaking.
Factories were closed, or allowed to operate only when workers slept on site to prevent the spread of the virus. Lower production at semiconductor plants added to the global chip shortage. The containers were returned to the port of Shanghai to transport them to their destinations due to a shortage of truck drivers.
All this though, leaders of the ruling Communist Party have repeatedly expressed their determination to stick to a “zero-COVID” policy, even as other countries have opened their borders and vowed to “live with the virus”. are trying External economists widely expect China to fall short of its 5.5% growth target for this year.
However, the latest economic data showed that Chinese manufacturing activity had resumed in May as the government rolled back some containment measures.
Schools will reopen for the last two years of high school and the third year of middle school, but students can decide whether to attend in person. Other grades and kindergartens remain closed.
The Shanghai Tourism Authority said outdoor tourist sites would begin to reopen from Wednesday, with indoor sites to follow in late June. Group tours from other provinces will be allowed again after the city has exhausted all high- and medium-risk epidemic zones.
The country’s capital Beijing on Tuesday further eased restrictions in some districts. The city imposed a limited lockdown, but nothing near city level, in the very small outbreak that appears to have occurred. 18 new cases were reported in Beijing on Monday.