China yesterday reported zero new COVID-19 infections in Shanghai for the first time since March, as the country’s latest outbreak subsides after months of virus-spurred lockdowns and restrictions.
China is the last major economy still committed to a “zero COVID-19” strategy, stamping out new cases with a combination of targeted lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines.
The economic hub of Shanghai was forced into a months-long lockdown during a COVID-19 surge this spring driven by the fast-spreading Omicron variant, while the capital Beijing shuttered schools and offices for weeks over a separate outbreak.
Photo: Reuters
Infections narrowed to a trickle over the past few days, with Shanghai yesterday reporting zero locally transmitted cases for the first time since the start of the outbreak in early March.
“There were no new domestic COVID-19 confirmed cases and no new domestic asymptomatic infections in Shanghai on June 24, 2022,” the city said in a statement.
The lockdown on Shanghai’s 25 million residents was virtually lifted early this month, but the metropolis has struggled to return to normal as individual neighborhoods have reimposed restrictions in response to new infections.
Millions of people in the city were temporarily locked down again two weeks ago, after the government ordered a new mass testing campaign.
In Beijing, restrictions first imposed last month were eased as cases declined, but tightened again this month after a nightlife-linked infection cluster emerged.
After days of mass testing and localized lockdowns, the “Heaven Supermarket infection chain” — named for the popular bar visited by people who caught the virus — has been effectively blocked, Beijing authorities said last week.
The Beijing Municipal Education Commission yesterday said that all elementary and middle school students could return to their classrooms for in-person schooling tomorrow, after the bar cluster delayed school reopenings.
All school staff, students and parents must take a COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction test before returning to school, and are urged to “limit going out and avoid gatherings,” the commission wrote online.
Beijing reported two new local infections yesterday.
China insists its “zero COVID-19” policy is necessary to prevent a healthcare calamity, with officials pointing to unevenly distributed medical resources and low vaccination rates among older people as major concerns.
The strategy has hammered the world’s second-largest economy and heavy-handed enforcement also triggered rare protests, while the extreme isolation of foreign businesses and middle-class families has tipped them into making exit plans.
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