Shanghai, China’s economic capital, and Beijing, the country’s capital, have both been subjected to new COVID-19 lockdowns and mass testing efforts from Friday, June 10; only days after draconian restrictions were eased.
Shanghai authorities have enforced a lockdown for hundreds of thousands of people in five districts in a desperate attempt to contain a larger outbreak after uncovering several community transmission cases and a cluster.
Less than ten days after a rigorous city-wide lockdown was eased on June 1, the cluster was tracked back to a well-known beauty shop, the Red Rose.
On Thursday, three of the parlour’s employees tested positive for the COVID-19. Over the previous eight days, the company had had 502 consumers from 15 of the city’s 16 districts.
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As a result, all inhabitants of 14 of Shanghai’s 16 districts were required to participate in mass testing drives, with residents in these areas being ordered to stay at home, over the weekend.
Green fences and red wooden boards have appeared in residential areas around Xuhui’s core district, barricading inhabitants in and igniting a new wave of public outrage.
People rushed to grocery stores and online platforms to stock up on food and essentials in case another lockdown occurred as a result of the fresh orders.
Shanghai – a city of 24 million people – was put on a gruelling and strict city-wide COVID-19 lockdown for a month after China’s worst pandemic outbreak yet, causing widespread frustration, anger, and even rare protests among its residents over a shortage of food, groceries, and medicines supplied by local authorities.
People were dealing with a loss of money and emotional pain; as well as the loss of their freedom and the deaths of friends and relatives.
Localized lockdowns have been implemented in Beijing; with public venues and transit shut down and work-from-home orders in place.
As the number of coronavirus cases decreased, these limits began to loosen. Despite China’s low infection rate by global standards; authorities complimented themselves for limiting community breakouts of the Omicron strain.
These new regulations came as President Xi Jinping doubled down on the much-debated zero-Covid policy; to bring community case numbers back to zero – while ensuring economic development.
“Persistence is victory,” the Chinese president said in a speech during a tour in Southwest China’s Sichuan province on Friday.
He further noted;
We must unswervingly adhere to the general policy of ‘dynamic clearing’; strengthen confidence; eliminate interference; overcome paralysing thoughts; pay close attention to the key tasks of epidemic prevention and control; and resolutely consolidate the hard-won results of epidemic prevention and control.
