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Medical workers collect swabs from residents at a makeshift testing site in Shanghai. Photo: Reuters

Shanghai to Shenzhen, Chinese cities rush to contain Covid-19 wave as new cases cross 1,000 for second day

  • Surge in local asymptomatic cases sparks rumours of citywide lockdown in Shanghai
  • Shenzhen orders selective lockdown for 11 districts, with mass testing and movement restrictions
China’s first-tier cities, from Shanghai in the east to Shenzhen in the south, are racing to tamp down the country’s latest Covid-19 wave, with more than 1,500 new cases reported nationwide on Saturday.
With the surge in case posing new challenges for the health system, the country’s drug regulator has approved five companies to produce rapid antigen test kits, as part of Premier Li Keqiang’s more “scientific and precise” pandemic control promise.

Shanghai, the nation’s commercial and financial hub, is battling a surge in local asymptomatic infections, which accounted for 78 of the 83 new cases reported on Saturday, with the rapid spread sparking rumours of a citywide lockdown.

This came as more than a dozen provinces reported confirmed cases, including Shandong in the east, Guangdong in the south and Jilin – a northeastern province bordering North Korea and Russia – which reported 400 infections, two-thirds of them asymptomatic.

China’s daily Covid-19 cases hit numbers not seen since 2020

Health authorities have put the spike in asymptomatic cases down to the Omicron variant, seen to be more transmissible but less severe than the original Covid-19 virus, as well as greater immunity from mass vaccination.

The Shanghai outbreak, which emerged earlier this month, has already prompted mass testing and several area lockdowns. The city has reported about 480 cases so far in March, 440 of those asymptomatic.

Indoor activities such as dance studios and several concerts have also been suspended until further notice. Shanghai Disneyland said on Friday that most attractions and shows would operate “at reduced capacity”.

Primary to high school classes have moved online as of Saturday, and kindergartens and preschools shut, after an eight-year-old primary student tested positive.

A total of 29 new cases were reported in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen, where 11 districts have been placed under selective lockdown until Tuesday. Residents must undergo daily Covid-19 tests, with movement in or out of housing complexes restricted.

All “exhibitions” in Guangzhou, the Guangdong provincial capital, were suspended after a confirmed patient was found to have visited a convention centre hosting a beauty industry expo. Testing has been arranged for nearly 50,000 other visitors.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong special administrative region next door reported 27,467 infections and 198 deaths on Saturday in an Omicron-driven fifth wave.

People queue up to get tested at the Shanghai Jingan Central Hospital. Photo: AFP

In the capital Beijing, which is currently hosting the Winter Paralympics, at least three new cases were detected by Saturday evening, and several neighbourhoods placed under lockdown to cut transmission, local media reported. About 100km (60 miles) away, the northern port city of Tianjin reported 35 new cases.

This is China’s most widespread Covid-19 outbreak since it contained the pandemic two years ago. As many as 1,524 new cases were reported nationwide on Saturday, the second day in a row where the numbers crossed 1,000. Nearly 1,050 of the cases were asymptomatic.

On Friday, Beijing made rapid antigen tests available to the public for the first time, suggesting a subtle change in tack in its “zero-Covid” response as cases surge.

The National Health Commission said the supplementary tool only applied to symptomatic outpatients at community medical centres, people under medical isolation and residents who wished to check their health condition. Those testing positive would have to undergo additional checks for confirmation.

The five companies whose test kits have been approved by the National Medical Products Administration are Nanjing Vazyme Biotech, Beijing Jinwofu Bioengineering Technology, BGI PathoGenesis Pharmaceutical Technology, Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech and Beijing Savant Biotechnology.

The Shanghai government has blamed “lax management” at a quarantine hotel for the latest outbreak in China’s leading financial hub, once regarded as a Covid-19 role model for its “precise outbreak containment measures”.

Instead of rolling out mass testing and sweeping lockdowns – scenes common in several smaller cities under China’s strict zero-Covid policies – Shanghai would take a more focused approach, classifying people at different risk levels with the help of surveillance cameras and big data.

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However, this policy of identifying high-risk residents and placing them under quarantine to cut transmission chains might not prove as efficient with cases ballooning.

A Shanghai resident who had a meal with a close contact of a confirmed patient was told by her residential community on Thursday that she was be sent to a quarantine hotel for seven days, followed by another seven days of strict home isolation. However, she was still waiting for health workers to fetch her on Saturday.

The Shanghai government also rejected widespread rumours of a citywide lockdown on the WeChat social media platform. But panicked residents still resorted to stockpiling necessities – with many vegetables sold out on Freshippo, the grocery retail chain of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Additional reporting by Yaling Jiang

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