Shanghai uses barriers to fight COVID
Authorities in Shanghai have installed metal barriers around the city to seal off streets and entrances to residential buildings to try to contain an outbreak of COVID-19.
The barriers, primarily made from mesh fences or thin sheets of metal, were put up to block small streets and entrances to apartment complexes where coronavirus positive cases were reported, according to Caixin, a Chinese business media outlet.
The barriers were erected under direction from local government authorities, the outlet reported. Small openings were left for pandemic workers to pass through.
Shanghai, which has a population of about 25 million, has been under a lockdown since March after China's largest outbreak of COVID-19 since 2020.
Videos on social media showed frustrated citizens in Shanghai yelling at workers constructing the barriers, including one depicting residents tearing down a mesh barricade.
The omicron variant has driven the outbreak in China, and Shanghai has been hit the hardest, largely with asymptomatic cases. The city reported 51 deaths among COVID-19 patients Sunday, up from a record high of 39 the day before, the local government reported Monday.
During the lockdown, residents in Shanghai are required to stay at home and can leave the city only with a negative PCR test. Public transportation has been suspended and stores are closed, leaving residents to order food or wait for government drop-offs.
Those who test positive are taken to quarantine in temporary hospitals until they test negative twice.
City residents have spoken out against the living conditions created by the lockdown on social media, reporting food shortages and detailing the struggle to access medical care.
Censors removed a video posted online Friday, “Voices of April,” which documents the effect of the lockdowns on citizens, blocking the film and any references to it on China's internet. Part of the video plays audio of residents protesting on April 8, chanting: "Send us food!”
Meanwhile, in Beijing, authorities announced it would begin mass testing starting Monday in Chaoyang, the city's biggest district. All 3.5 million residents will have three rounds of testing this week; the district accounted for the majority of new cases reported in Beijing over the weekend.
After the announcement, panicked residents flocked to grocery stores Sunday night to stock up, fearing a lockdown similar to Shanghai's.
China has taken a "zeroCOVID" approach to addressing the pandemic since it began, focusing on large-scale lockdowns, travel bans and blanket testing of citizens.
Another 45 Chinese cities are under lockdown, according to NPR. In early April, many measures were lifted in some cities as cases waned, but Shanghai residents have not been able to leave their communities since March 28.
In Hong Kong, the government said vaccinated nonresident travelers will be allowed to fly in starting May 1, provided they supply a negative coronavirus test.