Brenda Goh and Ryan Woo

BEIJING/SHANGHAI – China’s capital Beijing shut down more malls, gyms, and apartments on Friday. Authorities intensified contact tracing in an effort to stop a COVID-19 epidemic, but resentment over the brutal month-long Shanghai lockdown continued to rise.

Residents and a witness to Reuters claim that fenced-in residents in several districts of the finance center have been protesting the lockdown and the difficulty in obtaining provisions.

One video that was shared via social media and whose authenticity couldn’t be verified immediately showed a woman warning people not to use a loud-hailer, saying these gestures were being promoted by “outsiders”.

A request to comment was not received by the Shanghai government immediately.

The capital’s Chaoyang District, which was the first district to go through mass screening this week among its 3.5million residents, began the final round of screening Friday. Other districts will be taking part in the third round on Saturday.

Chaoyang is responsible for most of the cases in Beijing’s current epidemic. It has taken more measures to stop transmissions and declared that there are now more at-risk neighborhoods.

Text messages were sent to people who visited such venues recently, advising them that they should stay until their results are available.

“Hello citizens! You have recently visited the beef noodles & braised chicken shop in Guanghui Li community,” one such text read. Please report to your compound immediately. If you are not notified of the nucleic acids testing, please wait.

If you breach the requirements above and allow the epidemic to spread, then you’ll be held legally responsible.

Blue apron-wearing staff members at test sites urged queuing people to follow a 2-metre social ditancing rule.

Further apartment blocks were sealed, certain spas were closed, KTV lounges were shut down, as well as gyms, libraries, cinemas, cinemas, and shopping centers. On Friday, some compounds were also barred to couriers and food delivery personnel.

JD (NASDAQ.com), an e-commerce platform has been working hard to ensure residents are well supplied.

Ming Tang (32 years old), is the head of one its logistic centres in Beijing. He said that delivery volumes have increased by 65 percent since April 22nd. 80% of parcels sent are food related.

He said that couriers are under a lot pressure because they have to deliver parcels in a timely manner and work long hours.

Beijing recorded 49 cases, against 50 the day before.

WAITING TO LEAVE

According to the Shanghai government, 52 more COVID-19 victims died in Shanghai on Thursday 28 April, compared with 47 on Friday. On April 28, it recorded 9 545 new COVID-19 asymptomatic deaths, compared with 9,330 on Friday. The number of symptoms rose to 5,487 from 1,292.

Although some bottlenecks in delivery have been reduced, there has been continued criticism from the government over government food provision. Some people in the district complain that their food delivery has been slower than they would like. To compare, some residents took to social media.

Many foreigners are fleeing China’s most vibrant city because of the lockdown.

There are no data available on the departures of pets in recent weeks. However, legal firms, animal movers and property agents have reported a spike in queries. Online groups that share advice on moving have also increased.

Jennifer Li said, “Before the lockdown, I didn’t really feel the authoritarian governments, because you can more or less do what you wish and never really felt oppressed.” Jennifer Li is a foreigner making plans to take her family out of the city which has been home to them for eleven years.