Shanghai will try again to reopen in a few days after it has eliminated Covid-19 transmission among the population at large as an outbreak in C꧑hina's largest city subsides, an official said Friday.
The strict lockdown of the city — now in its seventh week but moved, lifted and reinforced at times to the frustration of residents — is part of the ruling Communist Party's “zero-Covid-19” goal that has exacted a mounting economic t♋oll and that even the World Health O𝓀rganization says may be unsustainable.
The goal in Shanghai is to achieve “elimination in society,” meaning any new cases would only be in people already in isolation, Vice Mayor Wu Qing said𒁏 at a news conference. That would allow for an “orderly opening, limited (population) flow, and differentiated management,” Wu said.
No exact date beyond the middle of the month was ෴given, nor did Wu say how the reopening would occur except that the city intends to gradually restore industrial production, education and medical services.
Shanghai officials have made similar pas🔥t assurances, only to see restrictions return even as caseꦍs wane in the city of 25 million people.
Complaints about food sho⛄rtages and other hardships and videos posted online showing people in Shanghai and other areas arguing with police have been deleted by ce꧋nsors.
Amid a much smaller outbreak in Beijing, more daily testing haꦓs been ordered, classes have been suspended, people have been ordered to work from home, restaurants are restricted to take-out service and many shops, tourist sites, banks and government offices closed.
Some residential communities are under lockdown and r꧃esidents have been warned to avoid traveling betw🐬een city districts.
Shanghai reported 2,096 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, all but 227 of them in people not showing symptoms. Beijing repoܫrted 50 case🌌s, in line with recent daily totals.
China's Foreign Ministry dismissed as “irresponsible” WHO's doubts expressed earlier this week about continuing the “zero-COVID" approach mandating strict lockdowns,ꦰ mass testing and the compulsory removal to crowded centralized quarantine centers of anyone who tests positive or is a close contact.
Experts have questions the policy's continued use given vaccines are widely available, and it 💙has affected growth in the world's second largest economy as well as global supply chains.
Yet it has become ever-more closely identified with China's president and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, who is determined to maintain 🍨tight social control and shore up his and the party's aut🍬hority ahead of a key party congress later this year.
Already highly limited rights to privacy, free sp♛eech and personal autonomy have been further restricted in the name of 💟fighting the pandemic. China's borders have been largely closed for more than two years, and this week the government said it would tighten restrictions on outbound travel by Chinese citizens and increase scrutiny over the issuance of passports.
At a meeting last week, the party's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee, the leadership said it was꧟ committed to “resolutely fighting any attempts to distort, question or dis🥃miss China's anti-Covid-19 policy.”
“In the face of mounting uncertainties due to Covid-19, one thing remains certain — China will stick toౠ its dynamic zero-Covid-19 policy that has proven pragmatic and effective," the official Xinhua News Agency said in an editorial Thursday.
China's outbreaks and the ensuing restrictions have led to a number of events being canceled or postponed, most recently the Asian Games o𝓡riginally scheduled for September in the city of Hangzhou, 177 kilometers (110 miles) west of Shanghai.
