Shanghai has slowly resumed operations today after authorities eased anti-covid restrictions that triggered a two-month lockdown and dealt a heavy blow to the Chinese economy.
In recent days, some measures have already been relaxed due to the significant drop in covid cases, but residents are only allowed to leave the house for a few hours a day and only in uninfected neighborhoods.
This Wednesday, residents are allowed to return to their workplaces, but are required to go through QR code readers to prove it’s not covid. Metro and public transport in the city were re-activated.
While the townspeople gathered in small groups to chat in the parks, store and market workers prepared to greet the customers.
“The moment we’ve been waiting for so long has come,” the Shanghai municipality celebrated on social media.
However, a full return to normalcy has not yet been completed, and more than half a million people remain under severe restrictions.
Shopping malls, supermarkets, pharmacies and beauty salons can only operate at 75% of their capacity. Gyms and cinemas will remain mostly closed, and school reopening will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Irritation among residents
But after two months of silence, the city has regained some signs of normalcy.
Large yellow fences around residential buildings were removed on Tuesday.
The famous historic Bund boulevard, which runs through the city and on the banks of the Huangpu River, is somewhat enlivened with locals eager to take pictures.
Chen Ying, who works in the e-commerce space, will continue to work from home but will benefit from the flexibility of going for a walk with her two-year-old son.
“We should have been free from the start, so don’t expect me to be deeply grateful,” he told AFP.
The confinement of China’s largest city angered the population.
Despite the dizzying rise in positive cases in March, the municipal government initially rejected the lockdown, citing Shanghai’s importance to the economy.
However, authorities changed their minds in early April and decided to quarantine the entire city. Some residents were isolated even before the date.
During the period, many complained of non-covid-related problems in the supply of fresh produce and access to health care.
‘Accelerate recovery’
The Shanghai quarantine is the second largest in China since the start of the pandemic. The isolation in Wuhan, the first city to be affected by the virus in 2020, lasted 76 days.
After more than two years of the pandemic, China is the only major world economy to insist on a “covid zero” strategy aimed at eliminating the virus entirely on its own territory with severe restrictions.
The strategy, especially when implemented in a business hub like Shanghai, has affected the country’s economy, undermining production, limiting consumption and significantly disrupting supply chains.
“The task of accelerating social and economic recovery is becoming more and more urgent,” the Shanghai municipal government said.
The easing of restrictions will allow activity in trade and factories to resume, but many fear a recovery will not be immediate.
“I’m definitely worried, things are out of our control… With the pandemic, it’s impossible to know,” said Chen Ribin, a cafe owner.
“He came in April, but no one can say whether he will return in July or August (…) We can only follow step by step. I think it will take two or three months for him to return to previous levels. It’s work,” he said.
source: Noticias
