Shanghai becomes a ghost town at risk of COVID confinement

Shanghai, one of the most populous cities in the world, took on the air of a ghost town in the face of the threat of confinement for its 25 million inhabitants due to an outbreak of COVID-19.

Although the number of COVID cases is low compared to other countries, China is currently facing its most severe outbreak since the beginning of 2020.

The country announced almost 5,300 new infections on Tuesday, marking the return of mass testing, lockdowns and travel restrictions.

A symbol of Shanghai, the Bund Pier on the banks of the Huangpu River, usually packed with visitors, fell silent this week on measures to eradicate local COVID cases.

Only a handful of masked pedestrians took photos of the landscape, while workers had to stay home, students took classes online and restaurants were closed in some districts.

The restrictions in Shanghai were directed at the areas where there were outbreaks of contagion, instead of the general confinements applied in other Chinese cities.

Still, the local people had a hard time knowing what to do.

“They informed us last night that we should suspend (the restaurant service) and we are going to abide by it, otherwise they close us completely”The owner of a restaurant in downtown Shanghai told AFP.

In a neighboring district, another restaurant owner claimed the measures discouraged people from eating out.

“We don’t have many clients these days”, he lamented, noting that there is a lot of anxiety.

On the Douyin social network, the Chinese version of TikTok, a woman complained that the ban was announced just as she rented space for a restaurant.

“I’m literally going to cry”, he expressed.

safety suits

In Shenzhen, a southern city of 17.5 million people, a more severe lockdown was imposed and videos on social media showed people rushing to supermarkets to shop.

Many sites were blocked off with red plastic barriers and long lines formed between the large towers where health workers in safety suits began taking samples for mass COVID-19 testing.

The rigid Chinese controls have enjoyed popular support, while the death toll has been low and, after the chaotic first wave of infections in 2020, life has returned to normal.

“Now I am used to (control measures), we have had them for a long time”, Yan Zhiping, a Beijing resident, told AFP. “As long as we protect ourselves well, there will be no problem.”

But the frequency of health restrictions has begun to wear on the patience of many and has intensified debate over whether Beijing should adjust its rigid zero-COVID strategy, especially in the face of the contagious omicron variant, cases of which have been less severe.

A Shanghai resident complained online that the city did “a bad job”, and accused the government of preventing people from uploading negative comments.

“The correct prevention and control of the virus in Shanghai is a joke, an extremely irresponsible joke”, posted another.