Shanghai plans to relax some lockdown restrictions with precise zoning after new round of mass Covid-19 testing

Authorities in Shanghai will conduct a new round of mass Covid-19 testing, the results of which will help to determine new zoning classifications in the city

The city’s residential compounds, villages and business locations will be classified into three types of zones: lockdown, control and precaution

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Birds fly above the Lujiazui financial district, amid the lockdown in Shanghai’s Pudong area on March 28, 2022. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:16pm, 9 Apr 2022Updated: 11:40pm, 11 Apr 2022

Shanghai will relax some of its most draconian lockdown restrictions, as the city of 25 million residents prepares for a new round of mass Covid-19 testing after daily infections climbed to 23,624 new cases on Saturday.

The number of symptomatic infections rose to 1,015 from 824 cases on Friday, according to local health authorities. That marked the eighth consecutive day of record daily cases, reflecting the pressure on local authorities to contain the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

The local government will conduct a new round of citywide testing, according to Vice-Mayor Zong Ming, without elaborating on a specific timeline. Based on the results, the city’s residential compounds, villages and business locations will be classified into three zones – lockdown, control and precaution – with different levels of risks and corresponding measures.

“We will implement differentiated policies with the zoning and grading, based on the analysis and results of the nucleic acid tests,” Zong said at a press briefing on Saturday.

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Under the city’s new zoning strategy, residents living in locked-down areas will remain barred from leaving their homes, while those in control zones will be allowed to move around within their compounds.