Covid in China: Authority announces lockdown in Shanghai
New Delhi: The unexpected rise in covid cases in China’s Shanghai – has forced the authority to announce lockdown. The health department of Shanghai reported more than 3500 new infections on Sunday. China’s largest metropolis has decided to impose a two-phase shutdown to combat the virus’s spread.
The threat in the region mounted as most of these cases turned out to be asymptomatic – meaning, people who tested positive for the coronavirus were not showing symptoms of Covid-19.
Meanwhile, China has reported over 56,000 confirmed cases this month across the country, with Jilin accounting for the majority of them.
On the spread of the virus, the local epidemic expert Wu Fan said that “Shanghai’s latest citywide Covid-19 testing is targeted at entirely removing potential hidden threats and clearing all instances as quickly as feasible.”
The local government said that “Shanghai will be locked down from Monday to Friday as citywide mass testing begins. In the second phase of the lockdown, the vast downtown area west of the Huangpu River that divides the city will then start its own five-day lockdown on Friday.”
As per the new norms of China, bridges and tunnels in the region will remain closed, while there will be restrictions on highway traffic.
(Smit Soni)
