SHANGHAI (Reuters) -- Chinese authorities extended the lockdown of Shanghai to cover all of the financial centre’s 26 million people on Tuesday, after city-wide testing saw new COVID-19 cases surge to more than 13,000 amid growing public anger over quarantine rules.
The lockdown now covers the entire city after restrictions in the city’s western districts were extended until further notice, in what has become a major test for China’s zero-tolerance strategy to eliminate the novel coronavirus.
At least 38,000 personnel have been deployed to Shanghai from other regions in what state media has described as the biggest nationwide medical operation since the shutdown of Wuhan in early 2020 after the first known coronavirus outbreak.
After originally taking a more piecemeal approach aimed at minimizing economic disruptions, Shanghai imposed a two-stage lockdown last week.
The lockdown was originally set to end on Tuesday in the city’s western districts, but has now been extended until further notice.
The city’s quarantine policy has been criticized for separating children from parents and putting asymptomatic cases among those with symptoms. Some public health experts say it is no longer an effective strategy.
Sun Chunlan, China’s vice-premier in charge of COVID prevention, urged grassroots Party organizations to “do everything possible” to help residents solve their problems, such as ensuring access to medicine, food and water.
Thousands of Shanghai residents have been locked up in rudimentary “central quarantine” facilities after testing positive, whether they are symptomatic or not.
Jane Polubotko, a Ukrainian marketing manager now held in the city’s biggest quarantine centre, told Reuters it was unclear when they would be released.
In an interview with Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily on Saturday, Chen Erzhen, a doctor in charge of one Shanghai quarantine facility, said it was possible that China would revise guidelines and allow asymptomatic patients to stay home, especially if the number of cases continued to mount.
Shanghai imposed tough restrictions last week as authorities struggled to contain what has become the city’s biggest COVID-19 outbreak, after originally taking a more piecemeal approach.
Shanghai reported a record 13,086 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases on Apr 4, authorities said on their WeChat channel, up from 8,581 the previous day, after a city-wide testing program swabbed more than 25 million people in 24 hours.
The government said it had collected 25.7 million samples in 2.4 million test tubes on Monday, and almost 80 per cent of the total had been tested by Tuesday morning. Any positive results are followed up at the individual level.