Facing 9,000 new covid cases, China has shut down Shanghai seemingly indefinitely. This has sparked unrest among many of the city’s residents.

From The Wall Street Journal. Shanghai extended lockdown measures as it concluded a day of testing of all 25 million of its residents for Covid-19 Monday, aided by thousands of medical workers who arrived over the weekend from across the country.

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Late Monday, which was meant to be the final day of lockdown, the municipal government said the lockdown would continue until after the authorities finished evaluating the situation, including reviewing the results of the mass-testing effort….

Residents began lining up from early morning to receive the first of two rounds of nucleic acid tests, as public anger and frustration grew over the government’s handling of the city’s worst Covid-19 outbreak.

China’s financial capital reported a record 9,006 Covid cases Monday out of 13,137 new domestic infections nationwide. On Saturday, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, the official charged by Chinese leader Xi Jinping with leading the fight against the virus, arrived in the city to direct efforts to stamp out the outbreak that is being driven by the fast-spreading Omicron variant….

Sticking to the policy that calls for quarantine for all positive cases and close contacts, she began to mobilize more resources. In scenes reminiscent of Wuhan at the outset of the pandemic in early 2020, thousands of doctors and nurses streamed into the city to help conduct tests and to care for positive cases in government isolation facilities. The reinforcement includes 7,200 doctors and nurses from Zhejiang province and 2,000 medical personnel of the People’s Liberation Army….

With most people who test positive showing no symptoms, public frustration is growing over what many see as heavy-handed policies that have brought life to a standstill. Many residents are struggling to find food and access to medical services. Factories are closed and workers stay home, as supply chain disruptions cause parts shortages….

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(Excerpt from The Wall Street Journal. Photo Credit: Joshua Fernandez on Unsplash)