Shanghai won’t lock down despite Covid spike: Official
SHANGHAI, March 26, (AFP) - Shanghai on Saturday recorded a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases, but a member of the city's pandemic task force said officials were determined to avoid a full lockdown over the damage it would do to the economy.
Millions of Chinese in affected areas have been subjected to city-wide lockdowns by an Omicron-led outbreak that has sent daily case counts creeping ever-higher.
Shanghai has aimed to ease disruption with a targeted approach marked by rolling 48-hour lockdowns of individual neighbourhoods and large-scale testing while keeping the metropolis of 25 million people running.
Officials alluded to the importance of avoiding a full lockdown of the huge
port city. “If Shanghai came to a complete halt, there would be many international cargo ships floating in the East China Sea,” said Wu Fan, a medical expert with the city's pandemic task force. “This would impact the national economy and the global economy.”