By Brenda Goh

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – After two months of despair, frustration and economic loss Shanghai’s COVID-19 lockdown came to an end at midnight Wednesday morning. This prompted celebrations that were tempered by fears about an outbreak.

Shanghai has 25 million people who can leave their homes and return to work. They also have the option of using public transportation and driving their own cars. This is a time that many felt was impossible in China’s most populous city.

A few small groups met in the French Concession area of the city at midnight. They whistled and shouted “ban lifted”, then sipped champagne from their glasses.

Streets were bustling in the past when people gathered on green spaces and kids rode their bikes along roads without cars. The sight of dancing retired people in Chinese cities is a familiar evening sight.

Shanghai Disneyland has not yet announced a date for its reopening, but they livestreamed an event to celebrate the release of Shanghai’s lockdown. A Chinese expression also referred to “ban” which officials in Shanghai have avoided.

Barbers cut residents who were locked up and had become shabby under streetlamps. Shops announced plans to reopen on the WeChat social networking platform.

Melody Dong said that she walked Melody Dong’s dog, and it was excited because the dog had been waiting so long to go outside. Melody Dong also expressed her excitement about the prospect of hot pot and barbecue, which are both difficult foods to prepare at home.

Shanghai’s debacle has become a symbol of what critics call the insustainability and commitment of China to a zero COVID policy. This policy aims to end every possible infection channel, regardless of ongoing disease.

Investors have become frustrated at the inability to find a way out of an increasingly difficult Omicron-related approach.

The COVID bans in Shanghai, and many other Chinese cities, have severely impacted the world’s second largest economy. These have also complicated global supply chains and created a tangled web of corruption. However case numbers have increased and curbs are now less severe than the April lockdown.

China claims its signature policy, President Xi Jinping’s, China’s approach to healthcare reform, will save people and keep its system of health care from becoming overwhelmed. Unwanted turmoil has been created by China’s COVID management. Xi is poised for a third term as leader in the fall.

The mood tonight reminds me a lot of high school. “On the eve for school, I was filled with expectations but I feel uneasy in my heart,” said one Twitter user (NASDAQ:).

A CITY SARRED

Many residents in the nation’s financial hub were unable to obtain enough food and medical treatment for two months. Families were divided and hundreds of thousands forced to go into centralised quarantine units.

The factories and offices which remained open, including the Shanghai government’s office buildings, were home to workers who lived in “closed loops”, sleeping on temporary beds on makeshift bases. Some of these workers can now return home.

For approximately 22.5 million individuals living in areas at high risk, the curbs were removed. Public safety is still a concern. Residents are advised to wear masks and not attend public gatherings. Restaurant dining remains banned. Shops are allowed to operate at 75% capacity. Later, gyms will be reopened.

Every 72 hours, residents must be tested to use public transport or enter public spaces. This is a new normal in many Chinese cities. The quarantines are severe for those with positive results and their friends.

Shanghaiers staged rare protests during lockdown. They banged on their windows with pots and pans. Both the lockdown and heavy-handed, often inconsistent enforcement of communication were factors in frustrations.

Qu Weiguo (a Fudan University professor in foreign languages) posted this message on WeChat.

On Tuesday, the city’s largest quarantine facility – a 50,000-bed section of the National Exhibition & Convention Center – discharged the last two of the 174,308 COVID-postive cases who had been housed there. It was declared closed.