Meanwhile, residents of Shanghai’s eastern
districts who were supposed to be released from four days of isolation have
been told their lockdowns could be extended if COVID-19 cases are found in
their residential compounds.
The lockdown in Shanghai, being done in two
phases over eight days to enable testing of its entire population, has shaken
global markets worried about the possible economic impact. China’s
manufacturing activity fell to a five-month low in March, a monthly survey
showed, as lockdowns and other restrictions forced factories to suspend
production.
For four days starting Friday, residents of
Puxi on the west side of the Huangpu River dividing Shanghai cannot leave their
neighborhoods or housing compounds. The gates at some compounds were locked
from the outside, with groceries and meals delivered to collection points.
Government workers and volunteers wearing
full protective equipment went door-to-door with megaphones in the city with 26
million people, calling on residents to report for testing at designated sites
where they were met by long lines and waits of more than 90 minutes.
Veronica Wang, a resident of Pudong, as
Shanghai’s eastern half is known, said she and many she knows were still under
lockdown, with no word on when normal life will be restored.
Wang’s compound had been closed off even
before the lockdown began. She said a large part of her days is now spent on
trying to hop on to large group orders for groceries and items from soy sauce
to toothpaste obtained through personal connections.
“For example, we have one (group order) set
up for vegetables, one for eggs, one for bread,” she said.
Shanghai had not previously experienced a
sweeping lockdown, although many residents chose to stay at home even without
formal orders to do so.
This time, the “whole environment is rather
tense,” Wang said, citing a neighbor who waited hours for an emergency call to
be answered.
“The mood is different,” she said.
China’s National Health Commission said
another 1,787 domestic cases of COVID-19 had been recorded on Thursday,
including 358 in Shanghai. Another 5,442 tested positive for the virus without becoming
ill, 4,144 of them in Shanghai.
People who tested positive without symptoms
are being taken to temporary isolation centers, including gymnasiums and
exhibition centers.
Public transport has been suspended and
roads closed, bringing the normally bustling metropolis to a standstill. While
city residents are being told to stay put, airports and train stations remain
open.
The lockdown reflects China’s continuing
adherence to its “zero-COVID” approach despite restrictions being eased
elsewhere. China set the hard-line tone at the start of the pandemic in 2020
with the 76-day lockdown on the city of Wuhan where the virus was first
detected.
The measures have been decried by some
Chinese as excessive, although there has been little open defiance. Amid the
grumbling, Shanghai authorities have conceded shortcomings in their handling of
the surge driven by the omicron variant, after panic buying stripped store
shelves of necessities.
“We didn’t prepare sufficiently enough,” Ma
Chunlei, a senior Shanghai official said at a news conference Thursday. “We
sincerely accept the criticisms from the public and are making efforts to
improve it.”