Amid concerns about a possible fourth wave of Covid-19 hitting India, China has decided to put its largest city of Shanghai, which has a population of over 26 million, under lockdown due to record coronavirus cases.
With a record 3,450, asymptomatic Covid-19 infections were reported in Shanghai on Sunday, accounting for nearly 70% of the nationwide total, along with 50 symptomatic cases as per the city government, this Chinese city is a new global Covid hotspot, with Covid infections rising 66 per cent in the past 48 hours.
China financial hub launched a planned two-stage lockdown of the city of 26 million people on Monday, closing bridges and tunnels, and restricting highway traffic in a tackle to contain surging local COVID-19 cases.
The city government is said to have ordered a lockdown in the eastern half of Shanghai for five days of testing exercise, starting this Monday. The western part of the city roughly along the Huangpu River will see another phase of the lockdown starting April 1.
Shanghai on Day 1 of lockdown “Children were still having picnics yesterday and having fun”, said someone who did not wish to be named. Drone footage published by Chinese state media showed deserted streets surrounding the skyscraper of the city’s Lujiazui financial district in Pudong. Public transport in the east has been shut, and all unapproved vehicles have been barred from the roads.
A delivery man walks by police officers with protective suits outside a hotel in Shanghai on March 15, 2022. The Shanghai Stock Exchange, in the western part of the city, said it has kept a skeleton staff in place within the bourse for key positions such as trading and technical system operations, while others work from home.
Residents in the west of the city continued to rush to grocery stores and vegetable markets to stock up in anticipation of the lockdown starting April 1, with long queues and crowds. US automaker Tesla is suspending production at its factory in the city for four days, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
What is China’s vaccination status?
Beijing has continued to enforce what it calls the ‘dynamic zero-Covid’ approach. The strategy focuses on eradicating community transmission of the virus as quickly as possible, sometimes by locking down entire cities.
Meanwhile, China’s vaccination rate stands at around 87 per cent and is considerably lower among older people. National data released earlier this month showed that over 52 million people aged 60 and older have yet to be vaccinated with any Covid-19 vaccine in China. Booster rates are also low, with only 56.4 per cent of people between 60-69 having received a booster shot, and 48.4 per cent of people between 70-79 have received one.
Published By : Ankit Singh
Edited By : Khushi Thakur
