Several neighborhoods in Shanghai were blocked again just a day after city-wide restrictions were lifted, as China’s strict zero COVID-19 strategy continues to haunt the financial center.
Shanghai lifted its two-month blockade on Wednesday, allowing most of its 25 million residents to leave their communities.
But nearly two million people were still confined to their homes in areas designated as “high risk” by the government.
A resident wearing a mask looks from his home on Thursday, June 2, 2022 in Shanghai. Traffic, pedestrians and runners reappeared on the streets of Shanghai on Wednesday, as China’s largest city began to return to normal amid easing of a strict two-month blockade of COVID-19 that has caused unusual protests over its harsh implementation. (Photo by AP / Ng Han Guan) (AP)
At a news conference on Thursday, Shanghai officials said seven new cases of COVID-19 were detected in the city’s Jing’an and Pudong districts, prompting four neighborhoods to be closed quickly and designated as “medium risk areas,” which means residents will be confined. at home for 14 days.
Its 26 close contacts and 106 secondary contacts had been quarantined by the government and more than 470,000 people had been tested, according to officials.
The reversal to the blockade is the latest reminder that, despite easing restrictions, the government’s zero COVID-19 policy, which includes massive testing, extensive quarantine and rapid blockades, will continue to dominate everyday life.
Although Shanghai businesses and shops were allowed to reopen and the subway and buses resumed services, residents still need a negative COVID-19 test done in 72 hours to use public transportation and enter the public spaces.
The feeling of joy and relief at the lifting of the blockade among residents soon turned into growing frustration as long queues formed at test sites across the city during Wednesday and Thursday.
A man opens a door lock on June 2, 2022 in Shanghai, China. The city of Shanghai, the country’s economic hub and a vital global trading hub, has eased Covid’s restrictions after a two-month blockade. (Photo by Hu Chengwei / Getty Images) (Getty)
Some stretch for hundreds of meters with the scorching heat of summer, and others lasted well into the night, according to videos posted by residents on social media.
A test site issued a notice warning residents that the wait could take four and a half hours.
On Thursday, Shanghai officials acknowledged and apologized for the long wait, citing a lack of resources and facilities, despite authorities building more than 10,000 test sites and training thousands of workers to clear their throats.
Some of the test sites had not been put into operation, while others were only opened for a short period of time a day and had little staff, officials said, promising to improve the situation.
Many residents are still being persecuted for fear of a new blockade.
Crowds were filmed on Thursday morning fleeing the International Finance Center in the Lujiazui financial district after it suddenly prevented people from entering or leaving, a common practice in places where positive cases are found, according to videos circulating in the Social Networks.
The mall later issued a notice saying it had reopened at 12.30pm after a complete disinfection, without confirming whether there had been a positive case of COVID-19 at the site.
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The mismanaged closure of Shanghai caused widespread food shortages and lack of access to medical care, causing anger and frustration among residents.
But Chinese leader Xi Jinping has vowed to continue the zero-COVID-19 policy, even as the rest of the world learns to live with the virus and move forward from the pandemic.
On Thursday, the People’s Daily, the spokesman for the Chinese Communist Party, said on its front page that “the battle to safeguard Shanghai has achieved great gradual success” under Xi’s leadership.
“Shanghai is actively exploring new standardized prevention and control mechanisms in the megacity and accelerating the return of economic and social development to the normal path,” he said.