Brenda Goh and Martin Quin Pollard

SHANGHAI/BEIJING – Officials in Shanghai said Wednesday that 50% of the city has achieved zero COVID status. However, uncompromising restrictions were required to continue under a National Policy which the Head of the World Health Organization described “unsustainable.”

Shanghai’s sixth week in a difficult lockdown showed no incidents outside of the areas that were subject to the most severe curbs.

A quarter of 16 city districts achieved zero COVID status and had not seen any cases over the past three days.

Officials acknowledged that this milestone was significant, but they said it was too late to reduce curbs.

“We must clearly recognise that the current situation is not stable and the risk of a rebound still remains,” Zhao Dandan, deputy director of Shanghai’s health commission, told an online press conference.

China’s “zero COVID” approach has seen hundreds of millions in cities across the country face restrictions on mobility, with Shanghai being the most extreme example.

Beijing announced Wednesday that it had detected 37 infections in May 10th, the lowest number since April 26th. Shanghai’s infections were at their lowest level since March 23rd, when they reached 1,487.

This ruthlessly enforced isolation has led to significant economic loss in China and elsewhere. It also caused a great psychological trauma for many people, resulting in rare anger directed at the authorities.

Authorities in Beijing tried to save Shanghai’s fate by closing many of the city’s businesses and telling large numbers of individuals to go home because of an epidemic of cases every day.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus from WHO, Director-General of WHO said Tuesday that China’s COVID-19 policy of zero tolerance is unsustainable given the facts about the virus.

His belief that better tools were available to combat COVID indicated it was time for an overhaul in the way he approached COVID. As the majority of the world attempts to cope with the virus, China has been a notable exception to the rule, having closed its borders to all international travel for the past two years.

Soon after Tedros’ comment was posted on United Nations Weibo (NASDAQ) Wednesday, the platform that is similar to Twitter removed Tedros’ post from Weibo. Weibo and the United Nations did not respond immediately to our requests for comment.

WeChat blocked the sharing of similar U.N. posts, inciting “violation” of U.N. rules.

‘LIFE FIRST’

China’s top leaders increased their efforts to eliminate virus outbreaks last week and threatened legal action against those who criticize the strategy, which officials claim “puts human life first”.

China has cited the many deaths from the virus that have been caused in other countries. The official death toll from the outbreak of the virus in Wuhan, China in late 2019, is less than the 1,000,000 deaths that occurred in the United States.

According to new modeling by US scientists, China could face a threat of over 1.5 million COVID deaths in the event that China drops its zero-COVID policy.

China has only half its over 80s who are currently vaccinated.

Mike Ryan, WHO emergency director Mike Ryan spoke after Tedros and said that the impact of Tedros’s policy on human rights must also be considered.

Residents in Shanghai who are unable or unwilling to move have reported losing their income and difficulty sourcing food. They also complained about being unable get medical attention for serious life-threatening illnesses.

Quarantine centers often send entire communities to these centres. These facilities are sometimes lacking basic amenities, and can be sent over one neighbor who is positive.

Lockdowns were tightening. The city made what it believed would be an important final push to eliminate infections, before relaxing restrictions. This could happen by the end the month.

Residents of Shanghai are increasingly seeing new fencing erected around their houses. These fences have been noticed by many and they have been notified that they will not be permitted outside.

CRITICAL SUPPLIES

Shanghai’s lockdown proved that manufacturers can operate under strict restrictions regarding the movement and movements of materials and people.

Tesla (NASDAQ)’s Shanghai factory was the latest to show signs of its struggle. Due to difficulties securing spare parts, it operated below capacity.

However, the effects on supply of essential goods were more extensive. As a result, many of the biggest U.S. hospitals reported Tuesday that there was a critical shortage of radiography products and CT scans.

General Electric (NYSE:) The healthcare unit of the company said Tuesday that it has increased production of chemical substances used in medical scans at its Irish factory to make up for the Shanghai factory’s failure.