SHANGHAI, June 1 (Reuters) – After two months of frustration, despair and economic losses, the draconian blockade of Shanghai’s COVID-19 ended on Wednesday morning at midnight, sparking celebrations tempered by fears that an outbreak could return .
Most of Shanghai’s 25 million residents are now able to leave their homes freely, return to work, use public transportation and drive their cars, a time that for many in China’s largest and most cosmopolitan city felt like never before. would arrive.
At midnight, small groups gathered in the old quarter of the French concession of the city whistled, shouted “lifted ban” and tinted glasses of champagne.
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Previously, the streets were lively as residents picnicked in the grassy areas and children rode bicycles on roads without cars. Dancing retirees, a nightly show common in Chinese cities, flaunted their belongings for the first time in months in outdoor squares and along the Huangpu River.
Shanghai Disneyland, which has not yet announced a reopening date, aired a light show to “celebrate the lifting of the Shanghai blockade.” They used a Chinese expression that also means “prohibition” that city officials have avoided.
Under the streetlights, barbers cut the hair of residents who had become hairy during the blockade. On the social networking platform WeChat, stores announced their reopening plans.
“I walked the dog and the dog is pretty excited because it’s been a long time since he went out,” said Melody Dong, who was looking forward to eating hot pot and barbecue, foods that are hard to make at home. .
Shanghai’s ordeal has come to symbolize what critics say is the unsustainability of China’s adherence to a zero-COVID policy that seeks to cut off all chains of infection, at any cost, even for much of the world is trying to return to normal despite ongoing infections.
The lack of a roadmap to get out of an increasingly challenging approach by the highly contagious variant of Omicron has shaken investors and frustrated companies.
COVID’s brakes on Shanghai and many other Chinese cities have affected the world’s second-largest economy and tangled global supply chains, although the number of cases has improved and limitations have been reduced from the depths of the world. April locks.
China says its approach, a policy signed by President Xi Jinping, is needed to save lives and prevent its health care system from collapsing. The uncertainty and discontent caused by the management of COVID-19 in China has created unwanted turmoil in a sensitive political year, with Xi on the verge of securing a third leadership term in the fall.
“Tonight’s mood is a bit like high school days. On the eve of the school year it was full of expectations for the new semester, but I feel a little uncomfortable in my heart,” one user wrote. from Weibo, like Twitter.
A CITY WITH SCARS
For two months, many residents of the country’s largest financial and economic center struggled to get enough food or medical care. Families separated and hundreds of thousands were forced into centralized quarantine facilities.
In the factories and offices that remained open, including those of Shanghai government officials, workers lived in situ in “closed cycles,” settled in makeshift beds, and many of them can only return home now.
The sidewalks were raised for about 22.5 million people in low-risk areas. Residents still have to wear masks in public and avoid meetings. Food in the restaurant is still prohibited. Stores can operate at 75% capacity. The gyms will reopen later.
Residents will have to take tests every 72 hours to catch public transportation and enter public places, announcing what could become a “new normal” in many Chinese cities. Those who test positive and their close contacts face onerous quarantines.
During the confinement, Shanghai residents staged rare protests, knocking pots and pans from the windows and dodging censors to get out on China’s social media, which was heavily controlled. Frustrations stemmed from confinement itself, as well as harsh and often uneven application and unclear communication.
“The Shanghai government must apologize publicly for the understanding and support of the people of Shanghai and repair the damaged relationship between the government and the people,” said Qu Weiguo, a professor at the Foreign Language School of Shanghai. Fudan University. on WeChat.
On Tuesday, the city’s largest quarantine facility, a 50,000-bed section of the National Exhibition and Convention Center, released the last two of the 174,308 COVID-positive cases that had been housed there. It was declared closed.
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Report by Brenda Goh and the Shanghai Office, written by Tony Munroe, edited by Angus MacSwan
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