Shanghai easing COVID-19 rules
Officials in Shanghai promised Friday to ease anti-virus controls on truck drivers that are hampering food supplies and trade, while Hong Kong's government announced the end of a 2-year-old ban on non-residents flying into the city as its outbreak fades.
Streets in Shanghai were largely empty despite an easing of restrictions that confined most of its 25 million people to their homes. Many residents still were barred from leaving their neighborhoods.
A deputy mayor, Zhang Wei, promised “every effort” to resolve problems that prompted complaints about lack of food and fears the shutdown of China's most populous city might disrupt global trade.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government said non-residents who are vaccinated and have a negative virus test will be allowed to fly in again starting May 1. That eases one of the world's most stringent travel bans, imposed in March 2020.
An outbreak that infected some 1.2 million people in the city of 7.4 million and killed almost 9,000 appeared to be fading. Hong Kong Disneyland and museums reopened this week and restaurants resumed evening dining as new daily case numbers fell.
On the mainland, Shanghai leaders are scrambling to ease the impact of a “zero-COVID” strategy that shut down most businesses starting March 28.
Most factories and offices remained closed despite changes in anti-virus curbs since last week that have allowed 12.3 million people out of their homes.
In one neighborhood, a woman rode a skateboard and a couple took a child's photo outside a park. Delivery drivers rode past on scooters while government employees in white suits sprayed disinfectant on trash bags.
“You can only walk the dog,” said resident Isabella Kao, who cannot leave her apartment compound because nearby areas are quarantined. “There's no point in going out because all your stores are closed, right?”
On Friday, the government reported 11 coronavirus deaths and 17,529 new cases in Shanghai. All but 1,931 had no symptoms. Shanghai accounted for 95% of the 18,598 new cases on China's mainland, of which 2,133 had symptoms.
China's infection numbers in its biggest outbreak since the start of the pandemic in 2020 are low compared with other major countries. But the ruling Communist Party has suspended access to Shanghai and some other major cities to isolate every case, fueling public frustration and warnings about the rising cost.
Truck drivers who bring food to Shanghai and goods to its port, the world's busiest, are hampered by multiple checkpoints and virus tests. That has led to long waits and reports that some shipping companies and drivers are avoiding Shanghai.
Under the new system, drivers are allowed through if they have had a negative virus test within the past 48 hours, no fever and a “green health code” on their smartphone that shows they haven't been to areas with outbreaks, according to Wu Chungeng, director of the Highway Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation.
“All localities should directly release them,” Wu said, according to news reports.
Meanwhile, some 80,000 small enterprises in government-owned buildings in Shanghai will be given six months' free rent, the director of the city's commission for state-owned assets, Bai Tinghui, said at the news conference with Zhang, according to state media.