Totally confined since the beginning of the month, the city of Shanghai slightly relaxed restrictions on Wednesday that penalize supplies and weigh heavily on China’s economy, despite the increase in Covid-19 cases and deaths.
The inhabitants of the Chinese economic capital seem increasingly exasperated by the difficulties of access to food and by the forced isolation of positive people in quarantine centers, with haphazard comfort and hygiene.
Multinationals, meanwhile, are worried about the impact on global supply chains of the lockdown, which was originally expected to last four days. Many companies have stopped production.
The 25 million inhabitants of Shanghai, where more than 400,000 infections have been reported since the beginning of March, are in principle subject to strict confinement at home.
But since last week, some rules have been relaxed, the town hall said on Wednesday.
More than 12 million people can thus technically leave their homes, but must remain within the confines of their residence or their neighborhood, she said.
In theory, residents of neighborhoods where no cases have been reported in the past 14 days can move freely.
But many residents of such areas have complained on social media that they are not allowed to leave their neighborhoods.
The degree of movement remains conditioned by the goodwill of Communist Party volunteers, who often apply anti-Covid measures with great zeal.
A man wearing protective clothing on a street in Shanghai on April 18, 2022
© AFP – Hector RETAMAL
A resident of Jing’an area, who only gave her first name, Lilian, told AFP that although she lives in an area not subject to restrictions, entering and leaving her area is prohibited. to people who do not have a negative test dating back 48 hours.
“Anyway, all the surrounding shops, pharmacies and markets are closed, so it’s not worth going out,” she added.
The authorities remain cautious about the increase in the number of deaths linked to the Covid-19especially in the elderly, who are more vulnerable and less vaccinated.
– Impact on the economy –
Shanghai reported seven additional deaths in 24 hours on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths in the metropolis to 17. The seven deaths concern people suffering from pathologies such as lung cancer or diabetes, and five of them were over 70 years old.
Covid-19 screening test on April 17, 2022 in Shanghai
© AFP – LIU JIN
The city also reported more than 18,000 cases on Wednesday.
A figure which remains low in comparison with the rest of the world, but which is nonetheless the highest for China since the first phase of the epidemic, at the beginning of 2020.
Contrary to many countries that opt for coexistence with the virus and lift restrictions, China continues to follow a zero Covid policy.
These measures, which seriously harm transport and supply chains, have led to the shutdown of many companies and weigh on the economy of the Asian giant.
On social media, residents denounced the restrictions on movement, the repeated mass tests imposed and the difficulties of access to food and medical care for people without Covid.
The authorities have begun to list so-called strategic companies in which production must continue. More than 600 companies have been selected for an early resumption of work in Shanghai.
Employees wearing protective suits disinfect themselves in Shanghai, during a containment to fight against the Covid, April 2, 2022
© AFP – Hector RETAMAL
US electric car giant Tesla, which has a major production site in the city, resumed operations on Tuesday after a 20-day suspension, according to local media.
Work is also gradually resuming in the northeast of the country, the cradle of the automotive industry, where tens of millions of Chinese have been confined in recent weeks.
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