In a bid to keep Shanghai’s economy running, authorities have avoided the hard lockdowns regularly deployed in other Chinese cities, instead opting for rolling, localised restrictions.
The area locked down on Monday is the sprawling eastern district known as Pudong, which includes the main international airport and glittering financial centre.
The lockdown will last until Friday, then switch to the city’s more populated western Puxi section, home to the historic Bund riverfront.
The city’s airports, railway stations and international shipping ports remain operational, while key manufacturers are allowed to resume production after a brief halt, state media reported.
China has largely kept COVID-19 outbreaks under control over the past two years through strict zero-tolerance measures including mass lockdowns of cities and provinces for even small numbers of cases.
But the Omicron variant has proven to be harder to stamp out.
At a press briefing on Monday, health expert Wu Fan said that it was “necessary to take more resolute measures” to eliminate community transmission.
With material from Channel News Asia Read More
