SHANGHAI, April 19 (Reuters) – Authorities in Shanghai on Tuesday called for public cooperation in a new massive testing campaign as the city stepped up efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 outside areas. quarantine, after three weeks of confinement.
This call follows the refusal of some residents to join the queues to carry out the fatigue tests after weeks of restrictive measures, or for fear of risking infection.
Residents have shared stories on social media describing buses full of people taken from their homes and sent to quarantine centres, including babies and the elderly.
Authorities in Shanghai are under pressure from Beijing to speed up transfers of positive cases and their relatives to quarantine centers, stoking community angst over draconian measures to eradicate the spread of the virus. virus rather than slowing it down.
“By performing multiple consecutive rounds of PCR tests, we will be able to dynamically detect positive cases as soon as possible, which will allow us to reach zero contamination level at the local level faster,” said Hu Xiaobo. , responsible for the health of the city.
Shanghai is aiming to stop the spread of COVID-19 outside quarantine zones by Wednesday, sources said – a goal that has seen other Chinese cities in lockdown ease restrictions further.
The number of new infections in Shanghai fell to 19,442 on Monday from 21,395 the day before, while those outside quarantined areas rose to 550 cases from 561 a day earlier.
In China, the strategy to fight COVID-19 requires the testing, tracing and central quarantine of all positive cases and their close contacts.
Tens of thousands of people have already been placed in quarantine centers, and many more are forced to isolate themselves at home due to their proximity to infected people.
The city has eased movement restrictions for some people in low-risk areas, but the vast majority of its 25 million people are under strict lockdown.
Public transport remains closed and unauthorized vehicles are banned from circulation. The only ones who can move are the police, the delivery men, the members of the neighborhood committees and the health personnel. (Reporting Brenda Goh, Beijing and Shanghai newsrooms; French version Dagmarah Mackos; editing by Kate Entringer)