Panic buying grips Shanghai

– Authorities in Shanghai yesterday called for calm as worried citizens swamped online grocery platforms to stock up on food over fears of impending lockdowns in a city struggling to halt a Covid spike.

China is experiencing its worst Covid outbreak since the start of the pandemic more than two years ago, with Shanghai posting record-high case counts from the highly transmissible omicron variant.

China’s biggest city yesterday reported 981 cases – all but four symptomatic – a number that dwarfs any previous daily tally in the city and which is nearly onefifth of the day’s national total. Shanghai has responded to the outbreak with targeted residential lockdowns in areas with confirmed cases or close contacts.

There are growing public fears of more local lockdowns or stay-at-home orders for the entire city of roughly 25 million people. Public concern has spiralled in the city in recent days and residents have taken to social media to air their frustrations.

They have complained about unclear government messaging, alarmist posts about expanding test sites and impending lockdowns and the announcement that at least two indoor arenas in the city had been converted into mass quarantine sites.

“We hope that everyone will not believe or spread rumours and especially not maliciously spread rumours that cause panic in society,” Wu Jinglei, head of Shanghai’s health commission said.

Stores have been busy as consumers stock up and social media images circulated on Tuesday showed crowds converging on outdoor vegetable markets. Online shoppers yesterday complained platforms were crashing under the strain. –