Towards a turning point in the containment of Shanghai by Wednesday-sources | Photo credits: atiger / Shutterstock.com
SHANGHAI, April 17 (Reuters) – Shanghai has given itself until Wednesday at the latest to halt the spread of the coronavirus outbreak outside quarantined areas, two sources familiar with the matter said, raising hopes for the Chinese city, faced with growing frustration from the population, an easing of confinement and the beginning of a return to normal life.
To achieve this goal, authorities will have to speed up their testing campaign and the transfer of positive COVID-19 cases to quarantine centers, according to a speech by a local Communist Party official dated Saturday and seen by Reuters. .
Shortly after reaching that goal, other cities like Shenzhen reopened public transportation and allowed businesses to return to work.
Shanghai has become the epicenter of the biggest coronavirus outbreak China has seen since the virus was first identified in Wuhan in 2019, with more than 320,000 infections since early March.
Shanghai residents have taken to social media to express their anger against local authorities over food supply difficulties, loss of income caused by confinement, the consequences of separation between families and the degraded conditions observed in quarantine centers.
These tensions have even sporadically led to street protests and scuffles with the police. (Gilles Guillaume for the French version)