After parts of China’s most important economic hub began imposing new lockdown restrictions, while the most populous area in Beijing shut down entertainment venues, Shanghai and Beijing reverted to a Covid-19 alert.
After a decrease in the number of cases, both cities had recently relaxed their Covid curbs. The country is sticking with a “dynamic zero Covid” policy that aims to shut down transmission chains as quickly as possible.
Minhang, a sprawling district in Shanghai that is home to over 2 million people, announced Thursday that it will conduct nucleic acids tests on all residents on June 11. Residents were asked to stay at home during this time.
Other street-level authorities in the city’s other districts have also issued notices stating that residents will be subjected to two days imprisonment and 12 days of rigorous testing, beginning on Thursday.
Notices for at least three neighborhoods state that residents must remain indoors from Saturday through Saturday and then complete five rounds of mandatory tests, which will end on June 23.
Many of them were located in the central district Xuhui. There, green fences and red wood boards have sprung up in the last week to barricade residents and provoke fresh public anger.
The Paper, a Shanghai government media outlet, said that one of the Xuhui epidemics was linked to a well-known beauty parlour, The Red Rose in the city center. It reopened on June 1, after the city-wide lockdown was lifted.
It said that three workers had tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday. It said that the shop had received 502 clients from 15 of the 16 city districts over the last eight days.
One Weibo user commented on a Red Rose media report, “When is it ever going to stop?” “I just want to live a normal existence.”
China’s infection rate is very low in comparison to many other countries that have chosen to live with it. However, the government has increased its zero-Covid policy for its elderly and its health system. It has also warned that it will not tolerate any comments, actions, or questions that would question or reject the policy.
China reported 240 coronavirus new cases in June 8. 70 of these were symptomatic while 170 were asymptomatic. The National Health Commission stated on Thursday.
Chaoyang is a Beijing district with more than 3,000,000 inhabitants. On Thursday, authorities ordered entertainment venues and internet cafés to close. Patrons at four bars were instructed to identify themselves and to self-isolate.
The two-month Shanghai lockdown, the closing of many Beijing malls and venues, as well as movement restrictions imposed in many Chinese cities in recent months, have severely harmed the Chinese economy. They also disrupted supply chains and slow international trade.
The authorities are keen to revive business, and have begun to ease some restrictions in May. This helped China’s exports grow at a double-digit rate that beat expectations.
Officials in Shanghai, China’s largest cosmopolitan city and business center, have been trying to repair ties with foreign companies by meeting multiple executives and relaxing a crucial border requirement for workers from overseas.
Shanghai Disney Resort, which was closed since March 21, stated that it would reopen some retail areas and park areas starting Friday, but Disneytown, the main Disneyland park and its two resort hotels, will remain closed until further notice.
Business chambers stated that uncertainty around Covid-19 restrictions was a major concern for foreign companies.