Parts of Shanghai began imposing new lockdown restrictions on Thursday (Jun 9), with residents of sprawling Minhang district ordered to stay home for two days in a bid to control Covid-19 transmission risks.
Minhang, home to more than 2 million people, will conduct nucleic acid tests for all residents on Jun 11, and restrictions will be lifted once the testing is completed, the government said on its WeChat account.
Shanghai reported four new confirmed symptomatic Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, all in zones already under quarantine. None of the new cases were in Minhang district.
Shanghai emerged from a two-month city-wide lockdown last week, but some residential compounds have been sealed off again as authorities continue to pursue a "dynamic zero-Covid" policy aimed at shutting down transmission chains as soon as possible.
This means that authorities quickly enforce movement curbs and testing requirements in areas where not only positive cases, but also their close contacts, live or have visited.
Several street-level government authorities have issued notices saying residents will be subject to two days of confinement and another 12 days of rigorous testing starting from Thursday.
According to notices from at least three neighbourhoods in Shanghai, residents will be subject to five rounds of compulsory tests ending on 23 June, and will be kept indoors until Saturday.
Green fences and red wooden boards have sprung up over the past week along some of these streets close to these neighbourhoods, barricading residents in and triggering fresh public anger.
Zhao Dandan, the vice-head of Shanghai's health commission, told a briefing on Tuesday that the city would continue to implement restrictions even in areas that had not been identified as "high risk".
(Compiled)
