Shanghai Locks Down Other Half of City

West side is locked down, but lockdowns on east side could be extended
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 1, 2022 4:20 AM CDT
Shanghai Lockdown Shifts to Other Half of City
Workers in protective gear call out to residents to take part in the first round of mass COVID testing in the Jingan district of western Shanghai, China, Friday, April 1, 2022.   (AP Photo/Chen Si)

About 16 million residents in Shanghai are being tested for the coronavirus during the second stage of the lockdown that shifted Friday to the western half of China's biggest city and financial capital. Meanwhile, residents of Shanghai’s eastern districts who were supposed to be released from four days of isolation have been told their lockdowns could be extended if COVID-19 cases are found in their residential compounds, the AP reports. The lockdown in Shanghai, being done in two phases over eight days to enable testing of its entire population, has shaken global markets worried about the possible economic impact.

For four days starting Friday, residents of Puxi on the west side of the Huangpu River dividing Shanghai cannot leave their neighborhoods or housing compounds. The gates at some compounds were locked from the outside, with groceries and meals delivered to collection points. Government workers and volunteers wearing full protective equipment went door-to-door with megaphones in the city with 26 million people, calling on residents to report for testing at designated sites where they were met by long lines and waits of more than 90 minutes.

China's National Health Commission said another 1,787 symptomatic cases of COVID-19 had been recorded on Thursday, including 358 in Shanghai. Another 5,442 tested positive for the virus without becoming ill, 4,144 of them in Shanghai. People who tested positive without symptoms are being taken to temporary isolation centers, including gymnasiums and exhibition centers. The lockdown reflects China's continuing adherence to its “zero-COVID" approach, despite restrictions being eased elsewhere. The measures have been decried by some Chinese as excessive, although there has been little open defiance. (More China stories.)

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