Shanghai intensifies lockdown

Customers look through empty shelves at a supermarket in Shanghai, China, Wednesday, March 30, 2022. As millions of Shanghai residents line up for coronavirus tests in the closed-down metropolis, authorities are promising tax cuts for shopkeepers and to keep its busy port functioning to limit disruptions to industry and trade. (AP Photo/Chen Si)

SHANGHAI: Authorities began locking down some western areas of Shanghai two days ahead of schedule, as new Covid-19 cases in China’s most populous city jumped by a third despite stringent measures already in place to try to stop the virus spreading.

Home to 26 million people, China’s financial hub is in its third day of a lockdown officials are imposing by dividing the city roughly along the Huangpu River, splitting the historic centre west of the river from the eastern financial and industrial district of Pudong to allow for staggered mass tests.While residents in the east have been locked down since Monday, those in the west were previously scheduled to start their four-day lockdown tomorrow.