Shanghai will be shut down in two phases to conduct COVID-19 mass testing, as authorities battle a spreading outbreak in the Chinese financial hub and beyond.
The 25 million-person city locked down the financial district and industrial parks east of the Huangpu River at 5 a.m. on Monday. The lockdown then moves to the western half of the city for four days, the local government said Sunday.
Public transport and car-hailing services will be suspended. Private cars will only be allowed when necessary. The curbs will halt production at Tesla Inc.’s Shanghai factory, sources told Bloomberg News.
The company’s first gigafactory outside the US produced half of its vehicles last year and had to halt production for two days earlier this month. Announcing its efforts to keep the factory running, the business claimed it was “actively working with the government’s directive for Covid tests and necessary pandemic protection measures.”
China is Tesla’s second-largest market, and the Shanghai facility makes automobiles for sale to Europe and Asia. According to the China Passenger Car Association, Tesla produced 56,515 cars in February, 23,200 for the local market and 33,315 for export.
5550 new cases of Covid (locally acquired) were recorded statewide on Saturday, marking the largest outbreak since Wuhan. The southern innovation metropolis of Shenzhen was shut down earlier this month, while Jilin, bordering Russia, saw its capital city and then the entire province shut down. The auto-making region remains closed.
Infections in Shanghai, China’s largest port and home to many overseas enterprises, have risen recently despite increased testing, a crucial instrument in China’s comprehensive Covid Zero arsenal. With 2,676 new infections on Saturday, the financial hub surpassed Jilin as the nation’s top Covid hotspot.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange has extended the period for companies to release announcements until 11pm local time. Firms can also petition to delay the release of their full-year earnings.
The world’s largest port will continue to operate, according to the Securities Times.
To maintain a zero-tolerance policy to the virus in the face of more transmissible genotypes has become a difficulty in Shenzhen and now Shanghai. While other countries have begun to recognise Covid as an endemic, China has maintained its strategy of closed borders, mandatory quarantines, and mass testing.
The new limits in Shanghai are a shift from the city’s earlier strategy, which was more targeted. A full-blown lockdown was avoided to avoid disrupting business, but the highly infectious omicron variety spread.
As virus cases increased last month, Shanghai closed schools and halted all inter-provincial bus services. In recent days, a growing number of residential towers have been sealed due to suspected instances.
Shanghai’s authorities announced Sunday night that it will secure basic supplies including electricity, fuel, and food throughout the lockdown.
The unexpected news prompted a grocery run as people rushed to stock up on basics ahead of Monday’s first lockdown at 5 a.m. local time.
Many Shanghai residents have been stockpiling groceries owing to uncertainties surrounding building lockdowns and a scarcity of delivery drivers. Last week, Shanghai police arrested two men for spreading rumours of a city-wide lockdown.
Officials said emergency medical care will be available during the lockdown.
A nurse died of asthma Wednesday night after being denied away from Shanghai East Hospital due to Covid disinfection requirements. She died later at another hospital, according to the Pudong Medical Center.
Earlier this year, Xi’an, home to the terracotta warriors, was quarantined to contain an outbreak. While the number of cases in China is far lower than in the West or even in other parts of Asia, President Xi Jinping has urged officials to avoid economic harm while continuing to restrict Covid.
Due to the shutdown, Toyota and Volkswagen plants in Jilin province have been closed for weeks. Traders in Shanghai have started sleeping at their desks to escape building lockdowns.