SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – China’s capital Beijing started a new round of mass testing COVID-19 Saturday. It shut down more metro stations and bus routes as part of its efforts to avert Shanghai’s fate, which has seen millions locked up for nearly a month.

Shanghai’s draconian restrictions on financial and economic hub have caused anger among the 25 million inhabitants. They also triggered protests about access to food, medical care, and loss of income.

Some people were allowed to leave for air and light in the last week, but most residents are still unable to get out of their houses.

Eight days of Shanghai case drops have been recorded. The city claims that the outbreak has been under control and it can close some makeshift hospitals built as a result.

Authorities have warned that an end to the easing process is far away and cautioned against complacency in order to keep China on track with its zero COVID goals.

Shanghai officials announced on Saturday that they had delayed the university entrance exam “gaokao”, for students in Shanghai, by one month. That was during the original virus epidemic in 2020.

Li Qiang was the top Communist Party official in Li Qiang’s city. He is a close ally to President Xi Jinping. According to an official declaration, he stated that it was important to issue military commands at all levels. Also, to undertake more resolute, powerful actions to overthrow the great war, great tests.

From 23 on the previous day, Shanghai saw 18 infections outside of areas that are under lockdown. The number of new infections in Shanghai fell slightly to approximately 4,000 according to data published on Saturday.

Shanghai, along with many other cities, is building permanent PCR testing stations. This is part of China’s plan to make regular testing an everyday feature.

SALES TUMBLE

China’s COVID policy seems increasingly out of tune with the rest of the planet, where many governments have eased or even dropped restrictions in an effort to “live and breathe with COVID” as diseases spread.

Chinese leaders reiterated this week their resolve to defeat the virus, and threatened to take action against anyone who laments their strict policies. Numerous cities across the country have placed full and partial lockdowns.

These measures have a growing economic cost that is causing complaints by businesses and industry organizations around the world.

China’s automobile association has estimated Friday that April’s sales dropped 48% year on year. This is because zero COVID-19 policies, which shut down factories, limit traffic to showrooms, and slowed spending in China, the biggest car market in the world, caused these numbers to drop.

Although Shanghai has given guidelines to companies on how to restart their operations, an April survey of Japanese businesses found that most were still having difficulty due to the stringent requirements.

Beijing is trying to stop an explosion in Shanghai-type cases by conducting mass testing. It has also banned restaurants from multiple areas and shut down more than 60 metro stations. That’s about 15%.

The first three rounds of daily testing were started in Chaoyang’s largest district. It is the home of embassies, large offices and other government agencies.

For May 6, the city recorded 45 COVID-19 symptomatic cases, compared to 55 cases one day earlier. The city recorded eight asymptomatic COVID-19 cases (China counts each separately) compared to 17 the day before.