Hong Kong| Shanghai will lock up almost everyone in the city this weekend for mass testing as COVID-19 cases continue to emerge, causing more disruption and triggering a new run on shopping days after a grueling two-month shutdown.
The plan grew out of a domain with a handful of instances and spread in a matter of hours to 14 of the financial center’s 16 districts. It encompasses nearly all of the city’s 25 million inhabitants, as health officials use tests to eliminate any silent transmission of the virus, a key tool in China’s COVID-zero arsenal.
Shanghai has emerged from a strict two-month lockdown. Bloomberg
The immediate escalation reflects the fear that continues to surround Shanghai, which implemented one of the world’s strictest blockades in late March after a slow initial reaction to its outbreak.
The latest resolution follows an uptick in in-network infections to six on Thursday, from 0 the day before. Residents will be released after testing, but will be confined if new infections are detected in their compounds.
Five more infections were detected among other people in quarantine on Thursday, for a total of 11 cases in the financial center, fitness officials said. Nationally, China added 73 infections.
The return of lockdowns in Shanghai underscores the difficulties of China’s attempts against the virus, while the rest of the world accepts it as endemic. The disruption caused by pandemic brakes has hit production at corporations such as Sony and Tesla, with automakers only now normalizing operations at its South Shanghai plant.
The new restrictions do not yet have a significant effect on financial markets.
“Investors are watching, but there’s not much reaction right now because of their sudden spikes,” said Kevin Li, fund manager at GF Asset Management. “If this extends to more spaces than other people returning to work, it will lead to some volatility. “
The benchmark CSI three hundred index is up 1. 2% at 2:20 p. m. local time, get rid of past losses. For the week, it is up about 3. 3%.
One of the main groups focuses on the Red Rose Hall in Xuhui District, where it was at the top of the call after it reopened following the closure that began last March. Three infections were connected to the good-looking room at Thursday’s briefing, adding two to workers living in Minhang, the district that has recorded the highest number of recent cases.
Of the network’s six cases, four were detected in Minhang, a district of 2. 65 million people southwest of Shanghai. Minhang, a more common residential domain, will be sealed Saturday morning for mass testing, according to a statement. Many other districts are also testing on Saturday, several have not specified dates or times.
Only two districts with a population of less than 2 million, Putuo and Chongming, are on the checklist.
The latest move temporarily affected residents. This led some to flee their apartment complexes and sparked a race to grocery retail outlets after many struggled to get new crops and vegetables at the start of the initial shutdown.
While the final brakes can be lifted in a few hours if no new infections are detected, two more weeks of isolation can be imposed for spaces where new chains of transmission are discovered.
Most economists say it will be difficult for China to meet its annual expansion target this year because of the shutdowns. By having zero tolerance for new cases, the country risks being in a constant cycle of enforcement and relaxation of restrictions.
However, President Xi Jinping continues to highlight the country’s adherence to a policy that has produced one of the lowest COVID-19 death rates in the world. Xi called for COVID-zero to have a good reputation “without hesitation” on a stopover in Sichuan province on Thursday. , according to the official Xinhua news agency, while stating that it deserves to be carried out in balance with the wishes of the economy.
The comments echoed sentiments from mid-March, when Mr. Xi suggested to Chinese officials for the first time that they reduce the monetary effect of COVID measures. The Shanghai government has worked to allow brands to identify so-called closed-loop systems in their factories, allowing them to continue operating.
Amenities create a bubble in which staff simply come and go from the factory, infrequently living on-site, and testing for COVID-19 incursions.
The risk of disruptive measures also returned to Beijing on Thursday, with masses resuming in several neighborhoods of the key Chaoyang district, where the capital’s headquarters and embassies are located. An outbreak of COVID-19 in a bar ended a five-day series of 0 spread of the network. Beijing on Thursday reported 8 new local cases.
There are signs that China is looking to use ubiquitous and available tests for expensive blockades. Test kiosks are installed on the corners of major cities so that citizens are never more than 15 minutes away from a PCR test opportunity.
The concept is that constant verification (negative verification is required to buy groceries in malls and even parks at some stalls) will be the first chain of transmission before it gets out of control.
Infections are also spreading in northern China, with outbreaks in Inner Mongolia and Dandong, a city on the border with North Korea, which recently declared what it claimed to be its first COVID-19 outbreak.
Bloomberg
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