03/28/2022 09:27 (act 03/28/2022 09:27)
Last-minute announcement sparked public outrage ©APA/AFP
In the fight against the rising number of corona infections in the eastern Chinese economic metropolis of Shanghai, a lockdown began on Monday for half of the city of 25 million people. In the eastern district of Pudong, which includes a financial district and Shanghai International Airport, people are being asked not to leave their homes until Friday.
The announcement of the lockdown was made only on Sunday night and triggered a rush on supermarkets. Because of Shanghai’s economic importance, the government wanted to avoid a lockdown and initially only imposed the measure in a few neighborhoods. But now there should be a two-phase lockdown, including mass testing of the population. After the lockdown in Pudong ended on Friday, the measure will take effect in the most populous district of Puxi.
This procedure should stop the transmission of the corona virus “as quickly as possible”, officials said. They did not say how the blockade would affect the international airport and the important port of Shanghai.
The short-term announcement of the lockdown was met with anger and misunderstanding among the population. “We really don’t understand Shanghai’s management and control measures,” said a 59-year-old man who waited in line at a supermarket and identified himself only as Gao. “After such a long time”, the city “still has not brought the corona outbreak under control and the numbers are increasing”.
China is pursuing a strict zero Covid strategy and is responding to regional hotspots with drastic measures. Due to a severe corona wave powered by the Omicron variant, millions of Chinese are currently affected by hard lockdowns. Shanghai and Jilin province in northeast China are the most severely affected regions.
Southern China’s economic metropolis, Shenzhen, has now reported progress in fighting the pandemic. After a strict lockdown took effect in the city of 17 million people two weeks ago, a return to normalcy in economic life was possible on Monday, officials said.