- Shanghai reports 58 new cases outside quarantine zones
- Beijing is testing millions
- The epidemic is the biggest test to date for C Zero’s COVID strategy.
SHANGHAI / BEIJING, May 2 (Reuters) – China’s trade capital, Shanghai, was hit on Monday as authorities reported 58 new cases of COVID-19 outside blockaded areas, while Beijing continued to test millions of people on May Day holidays. celebrated.
Austerity measures in Shanghai have sparked rare public outrage, with millions of the city’s 25 million people indoors for more than a month, some sealed inside, surrounded by housing estates, and many struggling to meet daily needs.
Shanghai residents sighed with relief over the weekend at the news that no confirmed cases had been reported outside the two-day blockade, but disappointment came Monday with a report of 58 new infections.
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Authorities did not comment on new media briefings, but members of the public weighed in online.
“They announced that they stopped the cases at the community level too early,” commented a person on the social media platform Weibo.
However, many people are also enjoying data showing encouraging trends, with 32 new deaths on Sunday compared to 38 a day earlier, and a total of 6,804 new local cases, less than 7,189 the previous day.
“There is hope for May,” said another Weibo user.
Despite the drop in cases, more fences were erected in some apartment buildings in Shanghai on Monday, although authorities said employees of companies the government has put on a production priority list could apply for a pass if the building in which they lived, there were not seven cases a day.
The coronavirus first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, and for two years authorities managed to keep outbreaks largely under control by blocking and travel bans.
But Omicron’s rapidly expanding version has tested China’s zero-COVID policy this year, important to President Xi Jinping, who is expected to secure a precedent for a third leadership term in the fall.
China’s COVID policy is increasingly out of step with the rest of the world, where many governments have eased or lifted restrictions, in an attempt to “live with COVID” even though infections are spreading.
New Zealand, which had some of the toughest curbs in the world, finally opened its border on Monday, welcoming thousands of passengers from around the world for the first time since the pandemic began. Read more
China has not given a hint of deviating from its policy, despite growing effects on the world’s second-largest economy and waves of disruptions in global supply chains.
In the capital, home to 22 million people, authorities tightened COVID restrictions during a five-day Labor Day holiday that lasts until Wednesday, traditionally one of the busiest tourist seasons. Read more
Beijing, with dozens of daily infections in the outbreak in the second week, has not concluded, instead relying, at least for now, on mass tests to locate and isolate infections.
Restaurants in Beijing are closed for dining, and some apartment blocks are closed. The streets are quiet and residents who dare to go out must show negative coronavirus tests to enter most public places.
Authorities are monitoring close contacts with confirmed cases, warning them to stay at home and contacting authorities, and urging everyone to follow instructions.
China reported 7,822 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, down from 8,329 new cases a day earlier, the National Health Commission said Monday. Read more
All 32 new deaths in China are in Shanghai, bringing the total number of deaths in the country since the virus reached 5,092.
India, the only country with a population of 1.4 billion, has officially registered more than half a million deaths, although some health experts estimate the number is even higher.
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Report by Brenda Go, Sophie Yu and Tony Munro; Written by Anne Marie Roantry; Edited by Robert Birsel
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