Shanghai to lift eastern lockdown with some compounds sealed

[SHANGHAI] Shanghai will lift its lockdown of the eastern half of the city on Friday (Mar 31) as scheduled, but certain compounds will continue to be sealed because of Covid-19 infections, according to a local government statement.

Movement restrictions will still be in place for apartment buildings and compounds where positive Covid-19 cases have been found through nucleic acid tests conducted during the four-day lockdown this week, said the statement posted on the city government's Wechat account.

The announcement came as the western part of the city of 25 million residents is set to enter a four-day lockdown on Friday as authorities seek to curtail a record outbreak that's brought unprecedented disruptions to the financial hub.

Shanghai has emerged as the epicentre of China's worst virus outbreak since the early days of the pandemic. The city's daily infections shot up from less than 5 at the beginning of March to more than 5,600 on Thursday, though that's a slight decline on Wednesday's tally.

The spread of the highly transmissible Omicron strain to Shanghai is the biggest test yet for President Xi Jinping's dual goals of eliminating the virus while minimising the economic and social impacts of a Covid Zero strategy.

The worsening outbreak in Shanghai - home to the world's largest container port - and other parts of China is already weighing on the world's second-largest economy and threatening to disrupt global supply chains.

Tesla extended the suspension of production at its Shanghai factory by at least a day, according to people familiar with the matter Thursday, amid uncertainty over the city's pandemic control.

Under a government plan announced early this week, residents of the city's west, where about 2/3 of Shanghai's population lives, will begin a four-day lockdown at 3 am local time on Friday. That's 2 hours before the eastern half - home to almost 9 million people - emerges from their own lockdown that began early Monday morning.

According to the statement on Thursday evening, eastern district residents living in buildings with positive Covid cases will undergo a 14-day lockdown, starting March 28, while residents of other buildings in the same compounds will be subject to a seven-day movement restriction.

Residents in less restricted areas that are close to compounds under lockdowns will be confined to their neighbourhood for 7 days, with each household allowed to send one person out once a day to fetch necessities delivered to them. People living farther from the lockdown areas are encouraged to reduce social activity and not travel to the western side of the city.

All restaurants in eastern part of the city will halt dine-in service, while bars, Internet cafes, KTVs will be temporarily closed. BLOOMBERG