China denies Shanghai lockdown rumours.
SHANGHAI: Despite a campaign of mass testing aimed at stifling the spread, authorities in Shanghai have denied rumours of a city-wide lockdown after a sixth consecutive increase in daily asymptomatic coronavirus cases pushed the count to record levels.
The latest outbreak in China’s prosperous commercial hub is minor by global standards.
However, the testing campaign, which saw many people imprisoned for days in residential compounds, is in line with Beijing’s national “dynamic clearance” policy, aiming to eliminate flare-ups as quickly as possible.
New local content is added daily. COVID- On Tuesday, 19 infections in Shanghai approached 1,000.
Still, officials pledged to use a “slicing and gridding” approach to screen neighbourhoods one by one rather than shutting down completely.
The rumours of a lockdown sparked panic buying late Tuesday night, with delivery slots on Alibaba’s “Freshhippo” app running out a minute after midnight.
The city government said, “Please do not believe and spread rumours on its Weibo microblog site.”
Several streets and residential compounds had been unsealed after testing, according to city health official Wu Jinglei.
Still, some areas will be tested again on Wednesday and Thursday as the focus of the city’s efforts is narrowed.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Wu said that the city is using two stadiums as quarantine facilities for mild cases and asymptomatic carriers.
According to the company in charge of the system, a few subway stations were also shut down on Wednesday, citing COVID-19 controls.
According to the National Health Commission (NHC) data, the municipality reported 977 domestically transmitted asymptomatic infections on Tuesday, up from 865 the day before.
It also reported four local cases with confirmed symptoms, down from 31 days before, which China counts separately.
Eric is a professional news editor, writer, and blogger for the last 10 years. He is working with NewsGater as an off-beat news editor cum writer.