Shanghai to lock down millions again for COVID testing

China’s commercial hub of Shanghai will lock down millions of people for mass COVID-19 testing this weekend just 10 days after lifting its server two-month lock down, it was reported on Friday.

Racing to stop a wider outbreak after discovering a handful of community cases, including a cluster traced to a popular beauty salon, authorities have ordered PCR testing for all residents in 14 of Shanghai’s 16 districts over the weekend, Reuters reported

Five of the districts said residents would not be allowed to leave their homes while the testing was carried out. A notice issued by Changning district described the stay-home requirement as “closed management” of the community being sampled.

The latest scare triggered a rush to grocery stores and online platforms to stock up on food, as users of China’s Twitter-like Weibo expressed fear they could be locked down for longer, having only started going back to work after the last lockdown was lifted on June 1.

Some areas had remained sealed off or quickly returned to lockdown due to infections and their close contacts.

“The residential compound next to mine has already been locked down,” said Zhang Jian, a 34 year old real estate agent.

“If there is a mass testing and there is another positive case in the compound, it will have a serious impact on our lives.”

While China’s infection rate is low by global standards, President Xi Jinping has doubled down on a zero-COVID policy that authorities say is needed to protect the elderly and the medical system, even as other countries try to live with the virus.

Mainland China reported 151 new coronavirus cases for June 9, of which 45 were symptomatic and 106 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Friday. 

The latest round of mass testing comes on top of already onerous testing requirements that Shanghai introduced for its 25 million residents after easing its earlier lockdown.

Shanghai’s earlier lock down fueled widespread frustration, anger and even rare protests among its residents, many of whom grappled with lost income, the loss of freedom, the death of friends and relatives, and even hunger.  

It also battered China’s economy, disrupting supply chains and slowing international trade. And the latest setback has hit sentiment in financial markets.