Despite the closure, the number of Covid-19 infections continues to rise in Shanghai

(AFP)
The city of Shanghai announced, on Tuesday, a new rise in the number of Covid-19 infections, despite the partial closure imposed by the economic capital of China, which caused residents to flock to stores to shop.
In recent days, this city has become the focus of a new wave of infections with the Omicron mutant of the Corona virus, whose outbreak began to accelerate in early March, undermining China’s “zero Covid” strategy.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health recorded 4,477 new cases of Covid-19 in Shanghai, compared to 3,500 the previous day.
These numbers are low globally but high for China, where the number of new daily infections has rarely exceeded 100 since spring 2020.
Since Monday, a four-day closure has been imposed in the eastern half of the city. As of Friday, the western half of the city will be subject to isolation.
The authorities say they decided to impose a two-stage closure due to the economic impact that would be had on the city if a complete closure was imposed.
The announcement of this measure on Sunday evening caused a flock of residents to food stores for shopping in the western half of the city, where stores will remain open until Thursday.
Shelves in many stores were empty.
“The prices of goods are going up and people are panicking,” Yang, a retiree who did not wish to reveal his full name, told AFP.
More than 2,000 km from Shanghai, millions of residents are being isolated in northeastern China.
Jilin Province, which borders North Korea, is one of the areas most affected by the epidemic. Local media reported that 19 temporary hospitals have been built in recent weeks.