Almost all of Shanghai’s 25 million residents were confined on Saturday, as China faces its worst outbreak in two years and parents fear being separated from their children by strict anti-Covid measures.
The economic capital has become in recent days the epicenter in China of a new wave of contamination, linked to the Omicron variant, which began to accelerate in early March.
To avoid total confinement detrimental to the economy, the town hall first alternately put the two halves of the city under a bell to carry out a general screening there.
The western part of Shanghai (Puxi) was locked down on Friday, when the eastern part (Pudong) was to lift its restrictions after four days of confinement.
On Saturday, the town hall finally announced a more or less strict maintenance of the measures in almost all of this part of Shanghai, where the emblematic skyscrapers of the business district are located.
The move amounts to a de facto lockdown of China’s largest city, where many multinationals are based and which accounts for around 4% of the Asian giant’s GDP, analysts said.
“I’m afraid that the two parts of the city will remain closed for a while,” West Shanghai resident Wang told AFP.
Faced with the epidemic rebound, several exhibition halls in the metropolis have been transformed in recent days into makeshift quarantine centers.
Parents say they fear being confined there if they test positive, and are also worried about their children, from whom they could be separated, under strict isolation measures.
– “Foolish” –
“My daughter is not even four months old. If she tests positive, she will be quarantined on her own,” Law, a resident who declined to give his full name, told AFP.
“This is insane! A newborn baby should not be separated from its parents, no matter the circumstances,” fumed the 33-year-old, who lives in the western part of Shanghai.
If parents test positive for Covid and must be isolated, the city will provide “rapid help” to minors left unsupervised, assured a municipal official, Zeng Qun, quoted Saturday by the New China agency.
Children left alone at home will be cared for by “temporary guardians” or will be placed in a place provided for this purpose, said the official.
The Ministry of Health announced more than 9,875 new positive cases nationwide on Saturday, including about 6,300 in Shanghai.
On Sunday, the unexpected announcement of the first containment measures for the next day had caused an influx of anxious consumers in supermarkets.
Since then, vegetable prices have jumped – tripling in some markets – and locals are complaining about a lack of fresh produce.
Several tens of millions of Chinese are also confined to the northeast of the country, the cradle of the automotive industry.
In the midst of an epidemic rebound, the Beijing auto show, initially scheduled for the end of the month, announced its indefinite postponement on Saturday.