Shanghai enforces new Covid-19 testing as some areas in China extend lockdown

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (REUTERS, BLOOMBERG) – Several large Chinese cities including Shanghai are on their toes due to new outbreaks of Covid-19 infections, rolling out repeated mass testing or extending lockdowns on millions of residents, with some measures triggering a public outcry.

China has reported an average of around 390 local daily infections in the seven days ending on Sunday (July 17), higher than about 340 seven days earlier, according to Reuters calculations based on official data as of Monday. That is tiny compared with a resurgence in other parts of Asia.

Still, any flare-up would unnerve local officials, with China adamant in implementing its dynamic zero-Covid policy of eliminating outbreaks as soon as they emerge and punishing officials if they fail to do so.

The commercial hub Shanghai, which has yet to fully recover from the harsh two-month lockdown in spring and is still reporting daily sporadic cases, said on Monday it plans to hold mass testing in many of its 16 districts and in some smaller areas where new infections had been reported recently, after similar testing last week.

“There is still an epidemic risk at the community level so far,” the city government said in a statement.

Shanghai reported more than a dozen new cases but none was found outside quarantined areas, local government data showed on Monday.

“I’m speechless,” said a Shanghai resident surnamed Wang, already subject to testing every weekend at her residential compound. “It sounds like a waste of resources that doesn’t address the real problem.”

The northern city of Tianjin, which launched multiple rounds of mass testing in recent months to curb earlier outbreaks, said on Monday it is again testing its more than 12 million residents, after two local infections were found.

In the north-western city of Lanzhou, a lockdown in four major districts with around 3 million residents that started last week has been extended to July 24.  

In the central Chinese city of Zhumadian, lockdowns for several million people in a few towns under its jurisdiction have been extended for a few days until Monday or Tuesday.

The south-western city of Chengdu on Monday said it suspended various entertainment and cultural venues, widening such curbs over the weekend that had been limited to a few districts.

The capital Beijing, which reported zero local infections during July 11-17, closed up a residential compound on Monday as authorities proceeded to check on two suspected infections.

Authorities in the southern region of Guangxi said late on Sunday they removed two officials in the city of Beihai from their jobs for acting poorly in their Covid-19 response.

The city of Beihai, with a population of 1.9 million and currently clocking over 500 infections, has launched multiple rounds of mass testing and locked down some areas.

As of Sunday, over 2,000 tourists were stuck in the city. In the southern city of Guangzhou, Covid-19 control staffers broke down the locks of apartment doors without residents’ consent, stirring an outcry on social media over the weekend.

Authorities in one district in Guangzhou on Monday apologised to residents.

The issue was among the top 10 list of topics trending on China’s Twitter-like social media Weibo.

“It’s too horrifying, too ridiculous,” wrote a Weibo user. “No humanity, no law.”

Meanwhile, Macau extended its citywide lockdown on Saturday as the gaming hub struggles to contain its worst Covid-19 outbreak since the pandemic started.

All non-essential businesses are required to remain closed through July 22, authorities said, extending measures that began on July 11 and were initially due to last a week.

The shutdown will prolong the plight of casinos, which are burning through millions of dollars every day and earning no revenue.

Macau added 22 cases, suggesting the lockdown hasn’t stopped local transmission. The outbreak, which started on June 18, has swelled to a total of 1,755 infections. While small by global standards, it is the largest ever flareup for the city of 680,000 residents.