Martin Quin Pollard, Engen Tham

BEIJING/SHANGHAI – Beijing authorities have extended work-fromhome guidance for many of the 22 million inhabitants to combat a COVID-19-related outbreak. Shanghai has increased testing to maintain its hard-won zero COVID’ status, which it achieved after two months in lockdown.

The Chinese capital reported Monday that 99 cases had been detected in May 22nd, up from 61 on the previous day. This is the highest daily count during the month-old epidemic which has seen many new infections each day.

For May 22nd, Shanghai saw a decrease of 600 cases per day. There were no reported cases in quarantined areas. This is the same as the situation for the last week.

Gavekal Dragonomics’ analysts last week estimated that only 5% of Chinese cities had reported infection, which is a decrease from the quarter that was recorded in March. The COVID virus epidemic has weighed down growth in China, currently the No. 2 economy. However, there is still a need for vigilance and concern in Shanghai as well as the capital.

There were no further announcements about areas to be closed in Beijing. However, 5 of 16 Beijing districts recommended that people work remotely and stay away from gatherings. Those who must travel to work need to have a negative result for PCR testing within 48 hours.

Beijing’s Tongzhou posted late Sunday on WeChat that “The city’s epidemic prevention control and control are at a critical point”, asking those who live in five other areas to come home for the week.

Victory is only a step away. If you take one step back, all your previous efforts will be lost.”

‘MASSIVELY HIT’

Beijing has already reduced public transport and requested that some malls, other shops, and venues close down and seal any buildings where there were new cases.

Residents claim that shelves were set up at one residential complex for delivery. This raises concerns about the possibility of tighter movement controls.

China’s curbs on Beijing and Shanghai, as well as other parts of China, are causing significant economic harm and disrupting global supply chains and international commerce.

It is difficult to stop the Omicron, a highly transmittable variant of the virus that was discovered in Wuhan in the latter part of 2019, even though strict precautions are taken.

Sun, owner of a convenience shop in Beijing, said “We have been tremendously hit.” He explained that his store is allowed to be open only during the day and not its 24/7 business hours.

“Even in the Wuhan outbreak, we could remain open for the entire time.”

Shanghai reopened over 250 buses routes on Sunday and part of its subway system. Many cities and districts have announced further mass testing in the days ahead and asked their residents not to leave their buildings.

This commercial center of 25,000,000 people has seen more people leave their homes to go shopping over the last week. However, it plans to maintain most restrictions this month before lifting its lockdown for two months starting June 1.

NEW CURBS

While more people can be allowed to go outside, many residents of Shanghai have reported that they were told about new diseases in the area and required them to stop moving.

Hongkou District resident, who hasn’t reported any community-level incidents since May 7th, said that he was not allowed to leave his apartment after he had been permitted to move around his property previously.

Hongkou was one of six areas that announced tightening curbs recently to consolidate the success of their previous efforts.

However, some fear that the virus could make a comeback.

One of the top comments on a Weibo (NASDAQ) posting by Xinhua, a state agency in China on Shanghai’s recent statistics was: “This isn’t accurate. There are zero COVID case at the community level.” “Our compound was the victim of a new incident yesterday.”

The Shanghai government responded to questions by saying that the majority of cases in the recent days were located in high-risk or quarantine areas. Any community transmissions would also be made public via official channels.