Residents line up for mass testing in a lockdown area in the Jingan district of western Shanghai.
Highlights
- China on Apr 20 reported 2,830 locally transmitted confirmed cases, said National Health Commission
- China's economic hub Shanghai reported 2,634 cases and 15,861 local asymptomatic infections
- At least 44 Chinese cities are under either a full or partial lockdown
Witnessing a surge in new COVID-19 cases, China on Wednesday (April 20) reported 2,830 locally transmitted confirmed cases, the National Health Commission said on Thursday. Of these new locally transmitted cases, China's economic hub Shanghai reported 2,634 cases and 15,861 local asymptomatic infections, Xinhua reported.
Across China, cities are locking down their residents, supply lines are rupturing, and officials are scrambling to secure the movement of basic goods, with its largest-ever recorded outbreak of COVID-19 threatening to spiral into a national crisis of the government's own making.
At least 44 Chinese cities are under either a full or partial lockdown as authorities persist in trying to curb the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, according to a report from investment bank Nomura and CNN.
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In Shanghai, the epicentre of the country's latest outbreak, scenes once unimaginable for the hyper-modern financial capital have become part of the daily struggle for 25 million people.
There, residents forbidden to leave the confines of their apartments or housing blocks for weeks have been desperate for food and freedom- some seen in social media clips screaming out of their windows in frustration or clashing with hazmat-clad workers, reported CNN.
The current situation may mark the most significant challenge for the country- and, arguably, for Chinese leader Xi Jinping against zero Covid policy. Getting supplies across the country has become a steep challenge, with some expressways closed, and truck drivers ensnared in quarantine or at thousands of highway health checkpoints.
Some cities have discouraged their residents from leaving, like the major southern port of Guangzhou, which requires its 18 million people to show a negative COVID test if they want to get out.
Moreover, the zero-covid policy has sparked mounting frustration and anger in Shanghai and threatens more disruption amplifying the risks for the Communist Party.
(With ANI inputs)
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