Shanghai is booking millions again for comprehensive tests for the Corona virus

SHANGHAI/BEIJING, June 10 (Reuters) – The city of Shanghai, China’s commercial hub, will shutter millions of people for mass testing for COVID-19 this weekend – just 10 days after lifting a grueling two-month lockdown – worrying residents and raising concerns about Commercial Business. Effect.

The race to stop a large-scale outbreak After a few community cases were discovered, including a group traced to a popular beauty salon, authorities ordered PCR testing of all residents in 14 of Shanghai’s 16 districts over the weekend.

Five counties said residents would not be allowed to leave their homes while testing was being done. A notice from Changning County described the stay-at-home requirement as “closed management” for the community being sampled.

The latest panic has sparked a rush to grocery stores and online platforms to stock up on food, with users of China’s Twitter-like website Weibo expressing fears they could be locked up for longer, having only begun returning to work after the latest lockdown was lifted. 1 June.

Some areas remained closed or soon returned to lockdown due to infection and close contacts.

“The apartment complex next to a mine has already been closed,” said Zhang Jian, a 34-year-old real estate agent.

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

test test

While China’s infection rate is low by global standards, President Xi Jinping has doubled down on the coronavirus non-proliferation policy, which authorities say is necessary to protect the elderly and the medical system, even as other countries try to live with the virus.

The National Health Commission said Friday that mainland China reported 151 cases of the novel coronavirus on June 9, of which 45 were asymptomatic and 106 were asymptomatic. Read more.

The latest round of mass testing comes on top of the already onerous testing requirements that Shanghai introduced to its 25 million residents after the earlier lockdown was eased.

Residents must prove they have been tested within the past 72 hours to enter areas such as malls and offices – or even to use the subway and buses. Many have been frustrated by the prospect of queuing for hours to be tested. Read more

Meanwhile, Beijing on Thursday shut down entertainment and internet venues in two of the capital’s largest districts after tracing cases in a few bars.

At risk from one positive case

Shanghai’s earlier lockdown sparked widespread frustration, anger and even rare protests among its residents, many of whom suffered loss of income, loss of freedom, the death of friends and relatives and even starvation. Read more

It has also hurt the Chinese economy, disrupting supply chains and slowing international trade. The recent setback has affected sentiment in the financial markets.

Travel to China remains severely restricted, with most international flights canceled over the past two years and prolonged quarantine imposed on those who managed to reach.

The European Chamber of Commerce said its members’ Shanghai offices were only operating at 30-50% of their capacity while factories were running at more than 80%.

“We are at the mercy of mass testing. Factories will have to close even if only one positive case is detected,” said Bettina Schoen-Bhantzen, Vice President of the European Chamber, adding that European companies are becoming more cautious and rethinking the future. Investments in China.

Additional reporting by Brenda Goh, Wen Zhou and Engin Tham in Shanghai, Martin Pollard in Beijing, and the Beijing and Shanghai newsrooms; Editing by Richard Boleyn and Simon Cameron-Moore

Our criteria: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.