Everyone is being asked to participate in a citywide Covid-19 screening to maintain the status of a “green” health code that allows them to access groceries and public areas.
During their lockdowns, people will be prevented from going out, and all non-essential workers must work from home. Public transportation including buses, subways, ferries and taxis will also be suspended in the lockdown areas.
In Shanghai – a city with some of the best infrastructure in the country – social media complaints suggest that regulations aimed at ensuring residents get what they need have failed, with lockdowns being extended without warning.
“How can I buy groceries?…I can’t get medicine for my kids…How can we order this online when we can’t even get an appointment at the hospital?” One social media user wrote, who said their neighborhood in Shanghai is closed for 15 days.
To deal with the rising cases across the city, the Shanghai government has distributed rapid antigen test kits to families in low-risk areas, testing more than 14 million people as of Sunday. In an effort to relieve pressure on hospitals. Several indoor stadiums and exhibition centers in the city have been converted into central quarantine facilities for asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic Covid-19 patients.
Although more apartment complexes were closed after Covid-19 cases were discovered, Shanghai was reluctant to implement a citywide lockdown ahead of Sunday’s announcement. “If Shanghai comes to a complete halt, there will be many international cargo ships floating in the East China Sea,” Wu Fan, a medical expert with the city’s epidemiological control brigade said on Saturday.
China remains reluctant to impose full city-wide lockdowns despite rising case numbers – the highest since the pandemic began.