Residents fully back efforts to ‘break the chain’

Staying home: Empty roads replace the hustle and bustle of city life in Shanghai as the citywide ‘static management’ policy comes into force to curb the Covid-19 outbreak. — Bloomberg

SHANGHAI: Residents in Shanghai woke up to a quiet morning as the city entered its second phase of lockdown, beginning mass testing of 16 million residents living in Puxi, the area west of the Huangpu River.

The normally bustling, popular tourism sites in the area, including the Bund and Nanjing Road shopping street, became silent as the city fights its worst Covid-19 outbreak in two years.

Medics, community workers and volunteers got up early in preparation for the mass testing, while residents waited patiently at home for their turn for tests, usually being notified through improvised community communication groups set up by community management officials or volunteers on WeChat.

“People were all very cooperative and maintained social distancing for the tests,” said Wang Ziren, a volunteer in Jiameifang, Putuo district.

“Many young people participated in community work this time, and I believe that the current hardship will be overcome when we unite together.”

Shanghai has reported around 35,000 new cases since the start of the outbreak in early March. On Thursday, the city reported 4,502 new cases, with 4,144 being asymptomatic, according to the municipal health commission.

To rein in the spread of the Omicron variant, the major cause of the current outbreak, Shanghai has implemented citywide “static management”, which bars residents from leaving their homes unless necessary.

While residents in Puxi are under strict lockdown until today, most of the nine million people living east of the Huangpu River, who completed two rounds of nucleic acid tests between March 28 and April 1, remain confined to their homes or neighbourhood in accordance with epidemic control protocols based on the test results.

During the lockdown, police officers, medical workers and those providing essential public services are allowed to work outdoors to fulfil their duties.

Life continues as local authorities take measures to help residents cope with this period by setting up hotlines, keeping delivery services open for community purchases, and distributing food supplies to households.

At a meeting on the city’s epidemic control efforts, Li Qiang, the city’s Party secretary, stressed the significance of citywide “static management” to break the transmission links in order to achieve zero infections as soon as possible. — China Daily/ANN