Shanghai: (Archyde.com)
Shanghai, China’s commercial capital, suffered a setback on Monday; The authorities recorded 58 new cases of corona outside the areas under closure, while Beijing continued to conduct corona virus tests for millions of people on the May Day holiday, which was celebrated by a small number of people.
Strict measures related to the coronavirus in Shanghai have sparked rare public outcry; Millions of the city’s 25 million residents have been stuck in their homes for more than a month, some trapped in fenced apartment complexes, while many struggle to make ends meet.
Shanghai residents breathed a sigh of relief over the weekend following it was reported that no cases had appeared outside closed areas for two days, but the disappointment came, on Monday, with 58 new infections recorded.
The authorities did not comment on the new cases in a media briefing, but a number of the public commented on the matter online.
“They announced that they had eliminated cases at the community level prematurely,” said a person on the Weibo social media platform.
However, many people also drew enthusiasm from the data that showed encouraging trends, with 32 new deaths recorded on Sunday, compared to 38 deaths the previous day, in addition to 6,804 new infections in total, down from 7,189 the previous day.
Despite the drop in cases, more fences were erected in some residential communities in Shanghai on Monday, but the authorities said that employees of companies that the government has put on the list of production priorities can apply for a permit if no new cases appear in the building where they live for seven. days.
Tighter restrictions in the capital
In Beijing, a city of 22 million people, authorities tightened coronavirus restrictions during the five-day May Day holiday, which runs until Wednesday, one of the busiest tourist seasons in China.
Beijing has not decided to impose a general closure despite dozens of daily infections in the second week of the outbreak, and instead relies on mass examinations to identify and isolate infection hotspots, for the time being at least.
The authorities banned eating inside restaurants in Beijing and closed some residential complexes. The streets are calm and residents who venture outside must show negative results for Corona tests to enter most public places.
And the National Health Committee announced, on Monday, that 7,822 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded, Sunday, down from 8,329 the previous day.
And all 32 new deaths in China were recorded in Shanghai, which brings the total number of deaths in the country since the emergence of the virus to 5,092.
The Corona virus first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, and within two years the authorities were able to control the outbreak to a large extent, through closures and travel bans.
But the fast-spreading mutant Omicron has posed a tough test for this year’s “zero COVID-19” policy, an important policy for President Xi Jinping, who is expected to secure an unprecedented third term in office this fall.
