Mass tests for Shanghai amid new curbs across China

SHANGHAI • Multiple Chinese cities are adopting fresh Covid-19 curbs - from business halts to lockdowns - to rein in new infections, with the commercial hub of Shanghai bracing itself for another mass testing campaign after detecting the BA.5 Omicron sub-variant.

As China sticks to its "dynamic zero-Covid-19" policy, the strict curbs by local governments come despite low caseloads, and at a time when much of the world is already co-existing with the virus.

The central government has said that curbs must be as targeted as possible to reduce damage to the world's No. 2 economy, after this year's major disruptions clogged global supply chains and hit international trade.

The highly transmissible BA.5 has shown signs of greater ability to escape vaccine-triggered antibody reactions than some other Omicron sub-variants.

The discovery of one such infection in Shanghai raises the stakes of quickly limiting a nascent outbreak to avert more disruptive measures similar to the lockdown in April and May that roiled the global economy and markets.

This week's data from China is likely to confirm that the eco-nomy slowed down sharply in the second quarter.

Shanghai, China's most populous city with 25 million people, has told residents in several districts to get tested twice in another round of mass screening from today to Thursday, similar to last week's.

Its residents are already tes-ting every few days to secure access to various locations and public transport.

The authorities, and some investors, hope such relentless testing will uncover infections early enough to keep them in check.

Mainland China reported 352 new domestically transmitted Covid-19 infections on Sunday.

In the central province of Henan, the town of Qinyang has almost completely locked down its nearly 700,000 residents from Sunday, with one person from each household allowed out every two days to buy groceries.

In some areas, people have been told not to leave their homes at all.

Four major districts in the north-western city of Lanzhou, in Gansu province, and the southern cities of Danzhou and Haikou in Hainan province, are under temporary curbs for several days, with entertainment and cultural spaces shut.

About six million people in the three cities are affected by the Covid-19 rules.

The city of Nanchang in southern Jiangxi province, with 6.3 million residents, shut some entertainment venues last Saturday, although the duration of the curbs was not specified.

In the north-western province of Qinghai, the city of Xining kicked off a mass testing campaign yesterday after one person tested positive on Sunday.

Several major districts in the southern metropolis of Guang-zhou also began mass testing yesterday.

REUTERS