Shanghai reported a record 3,590 symptomatic cases on April 16, up 12.2%, with new infections reaching 23,513. That brings total infections – both symptomatic and asymptomatic – since March 1 to more than 340,000. On April 19, 3,084 of the 3,297 symptomatic cases were reported in Shanghai. There were 10 deaths in Shanghai, the first from Covid-19 in China since January 2021. Some key businesses are resuming production as Shanghai authorities issued pandemic prevention guidelines for local industrial enterprises to resume operations, aimed at securing and stabilizing both industrial and supply chains.
The lockdown in Shanghai was relaxed in some areas early last week following a small dip in daily Covid-19 case numbers that only lasted for two days. Some residential compounds and business which had not registered any new cases in the past 14 days were classified as low-risk areas in which residents and employees were allowed to go out, although they were still not allowed to visit high-risk areas and must stay within their sub-district. More than 24,000 communities in Shanghai are classified into three categories – locked-down, controlled and precautionary – according to the strictness of anti-Covid measures limiting the movements of residents. Lockdown zones refer to neighborhoods that have reported new infections in the previous seven days, and residents are ordered to stay at home for a week under closed-loop management. Controlled zones refer to communities where no infections were reported in the previous week, and people are permitted to retrieve food deliveries or take a walk at designated areas at staggered hours within the compound. The list is continuously updated according to the latest results of mass nucleic acid tests.
Some residents in Shanghai have experienced shortages of supplies due to Covid-19 containment measures, but more vegetables are being transported to Shanghai by truck and rail. It has been made easier for truck drivers to enter and leave the city, as closing highways and setting up of roadblocks threatened to disrupt logistics services. According to the State Council’s Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism, local authorities are strictly prohibited from closing highways, port terminals, railways stations or airports without authorization.
The railway operator has reduced the number of trains to limit the spread of Covid. China is currently operating about 3,000 passenger trains a day, less than one-third of the volume in normal times. The network is operating as few passenger trains as possible in epidemic-hit areas to only meet essential travel needs. In accordance with Beijing’s epidemic control protocols, people from regions with medium and high-risk areas are not allowed to enter the capital. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) have vowed to ensure the last kilometer and even the last 100 meters of delivery are working well for everyday supplies to be shipped to virus-hit regions. The delays of trucks at highway intersections have been reduced from two or three days to about six to eight hours.
Many people in Shanghai live in gated residential communities where volunteers are collecting orders for daily necessities such as vegetables, bread and meat to buy in bulk and distribute to residents under a third week of lockdown. “The normal food sources have run dry as delivery workers have tested positive for Covid-19, food deliveries and express package services have been overwhelmed, government-provided groceries have been delayed or did not reach homes at all, and grocery-shopping apps have been constantly out of stock,” the South China Morning Post reports. The Shanghai government has issued “green passes” to businesses deemed essential to the city’s operation, so merchants with the passes can also help deliver essentials to communities.
This overview is based on reports by the China Daily, Shanghai Daily, Global Times and South China Morning Post.
