A curfew in the east and south is also in effect in the west of the metropolis, which has a total of 26 million residents, as of Friday morning.
07:23, April 01, 2022
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In Shanghai, the second stage of the lockdown took effect for another 16 million residents of the eastern Chinese port city. A curfew in the east and south is also in effect in the west of the metropolis, which has a total of 26 million residents, as of Friday morning. Until Monday, people can only leave their homes for Covid 19 tests. This ends the first stage of the blockade east of the Huangpu River, which has been in place since Monday.
With the arrival of Omicron, China is experiencing the worst wave of corona since the beginning of the pandemic, two years ago. Although the numbers are low in the international comparison, the government follows a zero Covid strategy, which is being tested with the BA.2 variant. Until now, authorities had successfully tackled small outbreaks with curfews, mass testing and quarantine. It remains to be seen whether the strategy will also work against Omikron.
Shanghai and Jilin province in northeast China are currently the hardest hit. In the port city, 358 new infections were reported on Thursday, while another 4,144 cases were counted without symptoms, the Beijing Health Commission announced on Friday. Nationwide, there were 1,787 new infections and 5,442 asymptomatic infections, listed separately in China. All infected are taken to a hospital or quarantine facility. In Shanghai, sports stadiums and exhibition halls with beds were set up for insulation.