Shanghai enters second phase of Covid lockdown
The second phase of China’s financial hub Shanghai’s staggered lockdown came into force on Friday amid a continuing surge in Covid-19 cases in the city.
About 16 million residents of Shanghai’s western districts will be tested for the coronavirus during the second stage of the lockdown that’s expected to last until April 5.
Uncertainty looms for residents of Shanghai’s eastern districts who were supposed to be released from four days of isolation but have now been told their lockdowns could be extended if Covid-19 cases are found in their residential compounds. Shanghai reported 358 confirmed locally transmitted Covid-19 cases and 4,144 asymptomatic carriers on Thursday, Wu Jinglei, director of the Shanghai municipal health commission, said on Friday.
Overall, the city has recorded 36,000 Covid-19 cases, mostly the Omicron variant in March.
“From Saturday, people leaving the city will have to either show a negative nucleic acid test result within 48 hours together with a negative antigen testing result within 24 hours, or present a negative nucleic acid test within 24 hours,” Wu said, according to the official news agency, Xinhua.
Epidemiologists, according to state media, have admitted that Shanghai’s previous targeted prevention approach appears to have fallen behind in the race against the highly contagious and stealthy Omicron variant.
The earlier policies had helped Shanghai weather previous flare-ups without compromising economic growth, the report said. Ma Chunlei, a top Shanghai government official, admitted on Thursday that Shanghai was ill prepared for the latest surge in infections.
UK’s infections hit record high as free tests end
Rates of Covid infection have hit a record high in the UK, official data showed on Friday, just as free government testing ended for millions in England.
Some 4.9 million people in the UK are estimated to have had Covid-19 in the week ending March 26, or 600,000 more than the previous week, the latest survey by the Office for National Statistics said.