Topline
Shanghai on Wednesday eased Covid restrictions for an additional 4 million people and allowed more factories to resume operations as two districts in the city reported no new Covid-19 cases outside quarantined buildings, a possible sign that the financial hub’s outbreak may be subsiding.
A nurse from Suzhou in Jiangsu province takes swab samples for nucleic acid test on a child in a … [+]
Key Facts
According to China’s National Health Commission, Shanghai reported 16,407 new asymptomatic and 2,494 new symptomatic cases on Wednesday, both down from the previous day.
While still a significant number, only 390 new cases were detected outside quarantined areas of the city on Tuesday, down from 550 on Monday, Reuters reported.
Local officials told Reuters they believe that no new Covid-19 cases will be detected outside of quarantined areas on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, nearly half of Shanghai’s 25 million residents are now allowed to go outdoors after enduring several weeks of lockdowns, the Associated Press reported.
The purported easing of the outbreak has also allowed for the several key factories in the city to resume operations, including the highly publicized resumption of manufacturing at Shanghai’s Tesla plant.
Big Number
17. That is the number of deaths that have been reported in Shanghai since the start of the current outbreak last month. However, some residents have reported the death of family members who have not been added to the official count and there have also been reports of several elderly people dying in nursing homes across the city. This has raised some questions about the veracity of the official death toll.
Key Background
Despite being under lockdown for more than three weeks now, Shanghai has continued to report a large number of new of Covid-19 cases. The stringent nature of the lockdown—which still has no clear end date—has caused some anger among the city’s residents who complained about several issues like food shortages. However, Beijing has vowed to stick with its zero-Covid strategy in spite of growing doubts about its effectiveness against the highly transmissible BA.2 variant of the virus. Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping backed the approach stating that “prevention and control work cannot be relaxed.” Xi’s stance was reiterated by the state run press in an editorial which said the strategy was “correct and effective” and called on the Chinese people to stick to it “unswervingly and unrelentingly.”
Further Reading
Shanghai allows 4 million out of homes as virus rules ease (Associated Press)
Hopes rise in Shanghai’s battle against COVID as two districts report no new cases (Reuters)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/04/20/shanghai-loosens-restrictions-for-millions-of-residents-after-new-covid-cases-appear-to-slow/