In Shanghai, a city of 26 million people, officials said the COVID-19 outbreak “remains serious”. In Shanghai, the largest metropolis of the country, it was decided to extend the closure period, which was initiated to combat the epidemic.
Chinese state media reported that Gu Honghui, head of Shanghai’s epidemic control working group, said the outbreak in the city was “still at a high level”. “The situation is extremely serious,” Gu said.
More than 10 thousand health workers, including 2,000 members of the army, were sent to Shanghai to assist in the fight against the epidemic. Health workers are testing city residents for COVID-19, some of whom have been under closure orders for weeks.
The opening process was expected to begin on Friday, last week east of Shanghai. However, the eastern part of the city, along with the western part, continues to be under the closure order.
73 thousand new cases
13,354 new cases were detected in the city on Monday, most of which did not show any signs of illness. Thus, the total number of cases since the last wave of the epidemic began in Shanghai last month has increased to 73,000.
The outbreak fueled by the subtype BA.2 of the Omicron variant has so far not resulted in death in Shanghai. Compared to the delta variant of BA.2, it is said to be much more contagious but more hedonistic.
COVID-19 outbreaks continue in the Jilin region in northeast China and the capital Beijing. It was recorded that only one of the nine cases detected recently in Beijing was asymptomatic. The shopping center where the case was detected was completely closed.
On the other hand, people in Shanghai complain about difficulties in meeting their food and other needs. It is said that there is a shortage of beds in the facilities where health workers, volunteers and tens of thousands of people are kept in isolation.
The exhibition palace and other large venues in Shanghai have been turned into giant quarantine centers where those who survived the disease with or without symptoms are kept.
The news and images about the death of a nurse as the babies were separated from their families and were not taken to the hospital where she worked due to COVID-19 restrictions caused public outrage.
The negative economic effects of the epidemic in Shanghai, which is known as the financial capital of China and one of the main shipping and manufacturing centers of the country, raises concerns. While most of the public transportation in the city was stopped, non-priority businesses were closed.
The airport and train stations, on the other hand, continue to remain open, and automobile factories continue to manufacture.
Three of five foreign companies operating in Shanghai, where international events have been canceled, have cut their sales forecasts this year, according to a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce last week. Of the 120 companies that responded to the survey, 40 said they postponed their investments.
China reiterates that it will continue to implement “zero tolerance” in the epidemic, based on shutdown, mass testing and mandatory quarantine, despite economic concerns and growing public discontent.