Stay-at-home lockdown to continue in Shanghai

Imaginechina

Shanghai will continue the current lockdown until follow-up measures are decided based on the result of today's citywide nucleic acid testing, according to the city government.

Apart from medical or other emergency requirements, residents are being asked to continue staying at home during the prolonged lockdown management, the city's coronavirus prevention work leaders' office announced.

The nucleic acid sample collection for Shanghai's new round of COVID-19 screening was completed smoothly on Monday.

This will be followed by testing, double-checking, transport of positive cases and related personnel as well as analysis of the results.

After the completion of these tasks, the city will decide on follow-up management and control measures based on the nation's regulations and the results of the screening, the office said.

Amid the surging number of coronavirus cases recently, Shanghai launched its first ever citywide COVID-19 screening on Monday with the help of medical teams, which have been arriving from across the country.

The office said such screening aims to curb the spread of the pandemic, guarantee the safety and health of residents as well as achieve the dynamic zero-COVID-19 target at the social level as soon as possible.

Shanghai launched its two-phase lockdown for the massive screening on March 28.

The lockdown of the Pudong New Area, Fengxian, Jinshan and Chongming districts as well as parts of Minhang and Songjiang districts was imposed between March 28 and April 1, followed by classified follow-up quarantine measures for different subdistricts and towns. The next phase for the rest of the city in Puxi, launched on Friday, was scheduled to run through Tuesday.