Shanghai returns to mass lockdowns and travel restrictions

China’s Zero Covid policy is still causing misery around the country amid a return to lockdowns in parts of the major cities, including Shanghai and Beijing. People are being sequestered of they’ve come into contact with an infected person in high-population areas where the hygiene is generally poor.

Beijing has reverted to online teaching in one of its major districts after a new Covid cluster linked to the Heaven Supermarket club. 166 new infections are linked to the nightclub in the city’s Gongti nightlife. The entire area and the nearby Sanlitun shopping centre have been shut down, including highly popular eating areas.

In Shanghai there has been a return to lockdown conditions in many of the residential areas after recently opening back up after a draconian 2 month lockdown. Mass Covid testing and restrictions on travel have returned to the mega financial hub.

502 people have now been linked to 3 positive tests since June 9 among visitors to the Red Rose Beauty Salon.

Mass testing and restrictions on travel, even visits out of their apartments for food, have returned to the city of 25 million, streets and supermarkets have again been empty over the weekend.

220,000 Shanghai residents are still restricted to their homes under rules that require zero positive cases found within their residential areas for more than 10 days.

Whilst much of the rest of the world is now looking an a few hundred or even thousands of cases per day as routine and generally sustainable, China is strictly maintaining its Zero Covid strategy where jus a single infection can close down a school or district.

Failure to undergo strict Covid testing leads to an individual getting a “yellow code” on the compulsory health status app, which denies them access to public places.

Corrugated steel fences are again being erected to isolate people, along with other barriers to block off neighbourhoods and businesses.

Meanwhile, the lockdowns have caused problems for Thailand as well with suppressed exports, especially of fruit and food into China. Read more HERE. Previous to the Covid pandemic, China was Thailand’s largest source market for tourism, contributing nearly 30% of the annual tourist numbers in some parts of the country.