Families walking at a leisurely pace along the Huangpu River, joggers in fluorescent shorts, a young girl on a skateboard pulled by her dog… on the “West Bund”, the developed banks of the river that separates Shanghai into two, life seems almost back to normal. Only cafes and museums, not yet open, and playgrounds, surrounded by barriers, are missing. A little everywhere in the city, walkers, liberated, took to the streets, on foot or by bike. Cars are still prohibited: the only motorized vehicles are trucks, or police cars, or the rare beneficiaries of exit permits.
In China’s most populous city, there is a strange atmosphere: the inhabitants who can take advantage of their newfound freedom while a few million of them are still locked up. In Shanghai, the city of money king, the inhabitants have nowhere to consume, to the great displeasure of the bosses of shops still condemned by seals.
Residents have had to grit their teeth, locked in their homes, relying on government food distributions for sustenance
After two months of drastic confinement, most Shanghai residents are expected to be released on Wednesday 1er June. The extremely strict approach of the Chinese authorities has achieved its objective: twenty-nine cases of Covid-19 only, Tuesday, May 31, against more than 27,000 daily cases in Shanghai, in mid-April. In the meantime, residents have had to grit their teeth, locked in their homes, relying on government food distributions for sustenance, and very random online orders.
After further tightening restrictions in early May, the city’s municipality announced on April 16 the gradual deconfinement of the city within a fortnight. A course that she was able to hold thanks to the steady decline in cases. At 1er June, only the approximately 900,000 inhabitants of residences at risk “medium and high” – cases that have been recorded in the past two weeks – will remain locked up.
something unreal
A few days earlier, the first release in two months had something unreal: “Yes, you can go outside to exercise, but don’t go overboard”, had conceded the caretaker of our residence. A few neighbours, on good terms with him, were already allowing themselves discreet outings, but for the first time it was a clear answer. Something to rediscover in short strides a city still marked by two months of extreme confinement. A festival of barricades, palisades, site barriers, still enclosed many neighborhoods. Police checks blocked certain streets, checking in particular the circulation permits of scooter delivery men and trucks. Right in the center, Xiangyang Park, turned into a mass testing center in early March, was still occupied by the tall white barnums housing medical personnel. Residents were taking advantage of the cool evening air and their newfound freedom.
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