Shanghai Announces COVID is Under Control But...

Source: Reuters, Global Tiimes

Shanghai said on Friday it has brought China's worst outbreak of COVID-19 under effective control following a month-long lockdown of nearly 25 million people, with authorities vowing to stand by their zero-COVID strategy despite mounting economic costs.

The number of new COVID infections in China's financial hub had been on a "continuous downward trend" since April 22, the city's vice major Wu Qing said.

"Currently, our city's epidemic prevention and control situation is steadily improving, and the epidemic has come under effective control," he told a news conference.

Many of Shanghai's 25 million residents are still under lockdown and chafing against the measures, now in their second month, implemented as part of China's "zero-COVID" approach to tackling COVID.

Wu sounded a note of caution, saying while community transmission has been "effectively curbed" there was a risk of a rebound, and the city would not sway from the "dynamic clearance" strategy.

"We cannot relax, we cannot slack off: persistence is victory," he said.

However, Shanghai has decided to postpone local high school and college entrance exams for about one month to July 11-12 and July 7-9 respectively, as the city enters a vital phase in its fight against the COVID-19 epidemic amid a declining tendency that has lasted for about two weeks.

Shanghai deputy mayor Chen Qun announced the decision at a press conference on Saturday. He said that one of the considerations was that students should be left with enough time to study at schools to prepare for such crucial exams.

After the epidemic, if the students participate in the exams directly following a period of staying at home, they probably would not be in good condition, Chen explained.

While the epidemic in Shanghai has been effectively curbed, analysts warned against a lack of vigilance and slackness. They believe cities across the nation should learn lessons from this round of flare-ups, make emergency plans in advance and timely adjust prevention measures to ensure dynamic zero policy.