Shanghai aims for June 1 return to normality

SHANGHAI • Chinese financial hub Shanghai set out plans for the end of a painful Covid-19 lockdown that has lasted for more than six weeks - heavily bruising China's economy - and for the return of more normal life from June 1.

In the clearest timetable yet, Deputy Mayor Zong Ming said Shanghai would reopen in stages, with movement curbs largely to remain in place until Saturday to prevent a rebound in infections, before an easing.

"From June 1 to mid-and late June, as long as risks of a rebound in infections are controlled, we will fully implement epidemic prevention and control, normalise management, and fully restore normal production and life in the city," she said yesterday.

But the announcement was met with scepticism by some Shanghai residents, who have been disappointed many times by shifting schedules for the lifting of restrictions.

"Shanghai, Shanghai... am I still supposed to believe you?" one member of the public said on the Weibo social media platform.

"Who are you lying to? We can't even go out of our compound. You can open up, no one can go," said another Weibo user from Shanghai, according to the IP address.

Shanghai's full lockdown and the Covid-19 curbs on hundreds of millions of consumers and workers in dozens of China's cities have inflicted economic pain across a range of sectors, adding to fears that the economy could shrink in the second quarter.

The restrictions - increasingly out of step with the rest of the world, which has been lifting Covid-19 rules even as infections spread - are also sending shock waves through global supply chains and international trade.

In another sign the crisis is easing, Shanghai has started to shut some of the makeshift hospitals built at the beginning of the outbreak. Five of the city's 10 major makeshift Covid-19 hospitals have been idle, while many of the 37,000 medical staff sent to Shanghai since March to bolster the city's virus testing capacity have returned home.

In Beijing, the discovery of dozens of new Covid-19 cases every day for the past three weeks shows how difficult it is to eliminate even small outbreaks.

The capital has not imposed a citywide shutdown but has tightened curbs to the point that its road traffic levels last week were similar to those in locked-down Shanghai, according to data tracked by Chinese Internet giant Baidu.

On Sunday, Beijing extended guidance to work from home in four districts. It has banned dine-in services at restaurants and curtailed public transport, fuelling frustration.

Videos circulating on social media overnight showed some students at Peking University demanding the removal of fences put up around some dormitories to halt the spread of Covid-19. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the authenticity of the videos.

Some university alumni members were discussing the incident which occurred on Sunday night in a private chat group yesterday, reported Bloomberg. They said students at the compound had been barred by Covid-19 restrictions from leaving the residential area, meaning they were cut off from the library, labs and social life on the main campus.

In Shanghai, Deputy Mayor Zong said the city would begin to reopen supermarkets, convenience stores and pharmacies this week, but that restrictions on movement had to remain in place until at least Saturday.

It is not clear how many businesses have reopened.

From next Monday, operators will gradually restore train services and domestic flights, she said. And from Sunday, bus services will gradually resume but people will have to show a negative Covid-19 test no older than 48 hours to take public transport.

Shanghai reported fewer than 1,000 new cases for May 15, all in areas under strict controls. In relatively freer areas, no new cases were found for a second day in a row. A third day would usually mean "zero Covid" status has been achieved and restrictions can begin to ease. Fifteen of the city's 16 districts had reached "zero Covid".

REUTERS