On ten consecutive days, Shanghai reported new record numbers of Covid-19 infections. The city reported 914 new locally transmitted infections and 25,173 asymptomatic carriers on April 11. Shanghai has seen more than 179,000 cases since the current outbreak, driven by the Omicron variant, began on March 1. In a relaxation of the lockdown, 7,565
As April 8 marked the second anniversary of the lifting of the lockdown in Wuhan, nobody expected that two years later Shanghai would face an even bigger outbreak in infections, although hospitalizations are fewer and so far there have been no fatalities in Shanghai. Following the latest mass testings, the city’s residential compounds, businesses and areas will be classified into three types of zones: lockdown, controlled and precaution with different anti-Covid measures. Residents living in locked-down areas will remain barred from leaving their homes, while those in controlled zones will be allowed to move around within their compounds. People in the precautionary zones will be able to move around these areas. Certain essential businesses in these areas will be allowed to reopen, with limitations on the number of customers. On April 11, 7,565 residential communities have been classified as “precaution-level”, thereby relaxing the lockdown.
Meanwhile, more than 14,000 Covid-19 confirmed and asymptomatic patients and close contacts have been discharged from hospitals and quarantine centers since the onset of the outbreak on March 1.
“Medical experts said that the outbreak in Shanghai is bigger than what Wuhan faced at the height of the epidemic”, according to the Global Times. Shanghai officials said at a press conference on April 6 that since infections remain at high levels, the city will be put under lockdown again, and residents in different districts will have to undergo nucleic acid testing or rapid antigen tests. Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan urged Shanghai to ratchet up the building of makeshift hospitals, expand quarantine venues and strictly follow the guidelines in order to defeat Covid-19. The lockdown has been lifted for a “white list” of wholesale markets, delivery centers, e-commerce warehouses and central kitchens that strictly implement Covid-19 prevention measures to ensure sufficient supplies of daily foodstuffs to Shanghai's residents. In some subdistricts and towns without new positive cases, some stores reopened.
The 8,500-square-meter office space of the Shanghai New International Expo Center was transformed into a makeshift hospital, and on April 9, a makeshift hospital converted from the National Exhibition and Convention Center, covering about 600,000 square meters with a capacity of 50,000 beds, was put into service. Shanghai has built more than 100 makeshift hospitals for Covid-19 treatment with over 160,000 beds, and has eight designated hospitals with 8,000-plus beds, the government said. Shanghai has also improved care services for infected children and will allow their parents to accompany them when receiving treatment. About 38,000 medical workers from 15 provinces across China have been dispatched to support Shanghai with a daily nucleic acid testing capacity of 2.38 million tests.
Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces are offering 60,000 hotel rooms to quarantine people from neighboring Shanghai. All those transferred to hotels are required to be quarantined for 14 days, with all the expenses covered by the government.
Beijing's Chaoyang district reported eight new cases on April 4. One infected individual works at a clothing store specializing in South Korean clothing at the SOHO Complex in Wangjing, home to many South Korean residents. Four are colleagues and three are family members. This transmission chain, together with two others in different Chinese cities, is believed to be related to imported clothing from South Korea. Beijing authorities have advised residents not to leave Beijing unless necessary. Tens of thousands of people in Beijing are now quarantined.
A coronavirus-positive case with the Omicron variant in Dalian, Liaoning province, on April 1 was a shop assistant dealing in imported South Korean clothing, and the virus was detected on the clothes. South Korea saw a record-high number of coronavirus cases on March 17, with more than 600,000 new infections in a single day. Chinese importers and vendors are suspending orders and ramping up disinfection work for fashion products directly imported from South Korea.
Beijing city has introduced its strictest Covid controls since the early stages of the pandemic as it seeks to stop the explosion of Omicron cases in other parts of China from reaching the capital. Quarantine rules for residential areas have been tightened, affecting indirect contacts of positive cases as well as close contacts, while more people, including schoolchildren and care home residents, will have to take regular mass tests. There are also stricter controls on those entering or leaving the city. Arrivals from abroad and from high-risk areas of China had to undergo a lengthy quarantine when entering the city, but now the rules have been tightened for those entering from lower-risk areas too. Imported items, including clothing and accessories, fruit and international mail, will be subject to regular checks and disinfections.
Three domestically developed vaccines, including two based on mRNA technology, have recently been approved for clinical trials. The vaccines have been developed by Cansino Biotech, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, which is headquartered in Shijiazhuang, and state-owned Sinopharm.
This overview is based on reports by the China Daily, Shanghai Daily, Global Times and South China Morning Post.
