For the first time since the pandemic began, the number of Covid cases in China has surpassed 1,000 this week, up from less than 100 just three weeks ago.
On Friday, China reported its highest daily total of coronavirus cases in two years, as officials in Shanghai and other major cities increased targeted lockdowns and testing to combat the highly transmissible Omicron variety.
Authorities are gradually eschewing the use of broad city-wide lockdowns in favour of a more tailored response, as public dissatisfaction with China’s rigorous zero-covid stance grows.
However, this has resulted in internet photographs of students and professors being detained for up to 48 hours on campuses, as well as clients being detained at restaurants or shopping malls in Shanghai. Authorities pounce on reported close-contact incidents, until they are retested.
Cases of Covid have surpassed 1,000 for the first time since the pandemic began, up from less than 100 just three weeks ago.
According to the most recent daily official count issued on Friday, there were 1,369 cases spread across more than a dozen regions.
Health personnel visited the Shanghai American School on Friday, according to AFP, to conduct Covid tests on teachers and kids, though they were not constrained.
Over the last week, similar incidents have been recorded at other Shanghai schools.
In a social media statement on Thursday, Shanghai mayor Gong Zheng underlined the city’s more concentrated approach.
Some museums in Shanghai will be temporarily shuttered beginning Friday, according to the city government, although there have been no additional large-scale closures or widespread social media outrage.
This week, a northern city warned citizens to avoid needless travel, while Qingdao, China’s eastern port, has begun testing in particular regions.
In December, however, the city of Xi’an, which has a population of 13 million people, shut down for two weeks owing to an outbreak.
However, China’s state economic planning agency recently warned that large-scale lockdowns could harm the economy, and a top Chinese scientist said last week that the government should strive to coexist with the virus in the same way that other countries do.