The Chinese city, with 26 million inhabitants, has become the epicenter of the pandemic in the Asian giant
The population must stay locked up in their homes and can only go out for essential reasons
Two and a half years later, Shanghai has succumbed. China has closed its financial lung and largest city after verifying that the surgical lockdowns in neighborhoods and real estate complexes in recent weeks had not bridled the pandemic. It is not an easy or innocuous decision. It has required an unprecedented phased closure because not even China can manage 26 million people at home and it will take weeks to measure the economic bill.
The lockdown that started at 5 AM (local time) in Pudong will last until Friday. Then Puxi will take over for another five days. The Huangpu, the fluvial scar, marks the limit. On one shore is stately old Shanghai. The other epitomizes the development of China: there were only rice fields and mosquitoes forty years ago and now skyscrapers are crowded. The tunnels and bridges that join them have been closed since this morning.
None of the cities confined from Wuhan tie in relevance or volume with Shanghai. Therefore, the reluctance to close it despite the disturbing signs is explained. China has suffered an unprecedented outbreak since March that counts daily infections by the thousands when the previous ones had not exceeded hundreds. First it was the province of Jilin, then the southern macro-city of Shenzhen, and now Shanghai.
His authorities had ordered selective confinement for several days in recent weeks in the hope that it would subside while denying rumors of an imminent lockdown. Even on Saturday they insisted that the relevance of Shanghai for the national and international economy made its quarantine impossible. But the massive tests carried out during the last few hours revealed that the spread of the virus had exceeded the most pessimistic expectations.
closed offices
On Sunday, almost 3,500 new cases were reported, 70% of the national ones. And a few hours later the inevitable was announced because otherwise it would have attacked the zero tolerance policy and generated understandable regrets about the Shanghai bull.
They have closed the offices, only essential activities are allowed and public transport is not working. Pictures taken from the air revealed this morning the empty asphalt and no trace of the daily feverish activity. Several hospitals have also been closed to dedicate their staff to the imminent and massive rounds of tests and several sports facilities and convention centers will welcome patients with mild or asymptomatic symptoms.
The citizens of Pudong will stay at home for five days and the officials of the housing complexes will bring food and other essential goods. The measure arrives with punished patience of some Shanghainese after confinements that lasted beyond the promised two days. There have been complaints on social networks about the late delivery of food or its exaggerated price.
frenetic saving
It is paradoxical that time and experience have not improved management of the confined and that after that excellent logistics in Wuhan the complaints have piled up in confinements like the one in Xian. The shelves of some supermarkets in Pudong were empty yesterday due to the frantic stockpiling. “People are tired & rdquor ;, Liu, a businesswoman in her thirties and a resident of Puxi, certifies by phone. “Just a few days ago they let us leave the house and now they announce another confinement for Friday. I don’t know if these interruptions of daily life are worth it for a variant that is much less harmful than the previous ones & rdquor ;, she points out.
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The stealthy omicron variant has returned the debate on the expiration date of the zero tolerance policy. Its milder symptoms and shorter incubation period make it difficult to identify those infected, even for a system as oiled as China’s. Nor does its mortality, with two deaths in the current wave, seem to justify the excesses.
But the recent experience of Hong Kong, where the lack of vaccination of the elderly increased the number of victims, advises against laxity. Mainland China has a vaccination rate of 87%, very meritorious if we consider that it is voluntary, but considerably lower among the elderly. More than 50 million of those over 60 still do not have punctures and only 54% have received a reinforcement.