The streets of the capital were extremely quiet at the beginning of a long break for Labor Day, with residents worried that the authorities would impose further restrictions during the holidays, when many travel or socialize. Scenes of houses and buildings in Shanghai, China’s most populous city, where residents were restricted to prevent them from leaving, have made headlines in recent weeks as most other countries in the world learn to live with the coronavirus. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register China has pursued a zero-COVID-19 policy to eradicate the disease, leading to anger and frustration for residents, which has been working together for more than a month. Some, struggling to find food and other necessities, have rarely shown public opposition to strict government controls. If the zero-tolerance campaign works, it will mark a victory for President Xi Jinping’s approach in a year that is expected to secure a third leadership term that will break the previous one. Shanghai officials did not discuss the milestone in their daily press conference for Friday’s numbers, but Chinese social media cheered that “Shanghai sees zero COVID-19 broadcast at Community level” receiving more than 190,000 views. Saturday morning on the Weibo platform. “Shanghai has finally reached zero at the community level !!! May Shanghai wake up as soon as possible !!”, said a post. “There is hope that we can be free after the May holidays,” said another. Zero cases on Friday outside the quarantine areas in Shanghai compared to 108 on Thursday. Other Chinese cities that are under lockdown have begun easing restrictions after broadcasting ceased outside quarantine areas. However, some question the Shanghai landmark, noting that most of the city’s residents were locked in some form of quarantine. On Saturday, health officials said there were nearly 16,000 blocked areas in Shanghai, with more than 4 million people not leaving their homes. Another 5.4 million people were prevented from leaving their facilities. In practice, many of the remaining residents in low-risk prevention areas are still not allowed to leave their associations. “Control of the epidemic and prevention of the city is still critical and the trend is still that people need to step up controls,” said Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Health Committee. “Let us all hold on to this level of defense that we have reached with difficulty.” The fight to limit Omicron variance in Shanghai is costly for the economy, businesses and people, while delivery companies are flooded and logistics chains are stuck. China’s manufacturing activity in April shrank at the fastest pace in 26 months to its lowest level since the first months of the pandemic, first spotted in central China, as lockdowns halted industrial production and disrupted supply chains. The data released on Saturday raised fears of a sharp slowdown in the second quarter that will burden global growth. read more Shanghai officials, who say they are looking forward to the factories returning to work, said more than 80% of the 666 priority companies had restarted production and had compiled a second list of 1,188 companies. Infections are declining as the world’s most populous country enters Labor Day break, which runs through Wednesday, traditionally one of China’s busiest tourist seasons, but which has been hit hard this year by the virus. read more Some observers say the authorities have been less strict in getting people to take tests in recent days. In Beijing, authorities are fighting COVID cases and isolating close contacts with infected people. The local government said residents must provide nucleic acid test results within seven days before going to public places or taking public transportation, valid after the holiday break. Deteriorating frustrations in both cities, officials have not provided any timetable or strategy for returning to some apparent normalcy. Nomura estimates that 46 cities are in full or partial lockdown, affecting 343 million people. Societe Generale estimates that provinces with significant mobility constraints account for 80% of China’s economic output. In response to the coronavirus and other headwinds, China will step up political support for the economy, a leading Communist Party decision-maker said on Friday, raising shares from a two-year low. read more Shanghai reported 47 deaths from COVID-19 on Friday, up from 52 the previous day. Some questioned the mortality rate, as many residents said relatives or friends had died of coronavirus as early as March. Beijing reported 48 daily cases of COVID-19, up from 47 the previous day, the Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. The city also recorded six asymptomatic cases, up from two the previous day, it said. Mainland China reported 10,793 daily cases of COVID-19, up from 15,688 new cases the previous day, the National Health Commission said on Saturday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Min Zhang in Beijing. Writes Anne Marie Roantree. Edited by: Gerry Doyle and William Mallard Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
