Covid-19: Shanghai will reconfine 2.7 million inhabitants to screen them – Le Monde

Health workers wearing protective gear walk on a street next to a residential area under lockdown in Shanghai’s Xuhui district on June 8, 2022. HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP An announcement that raises concern among residents of the Chinese metropolis with regard to a potential general reconfinement of the city. Despite the deconfinement initiated a few days ago, Shanghai announced on Thursday June 9 that it was going to confine a district of 2.7 million inhabitants on Saturday in order to screen the entire population there. Minhang district in southwestern Shanghai will be confined on Saturday morning and its residents will have to take a PCR test, local authorities announced on the WeChat social network. “The closure will be lifted after the samples are collected,” they added, without specifying a specific date or time, or what measures would be taken in the event of detection of positive cases. Under the “zero Covid” national health strategy, all people who test positive are in theory placed in quarantine. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers In China, the pursuit of the zero Covid strategy implies further reinforced social control The city last week lifted a large part of the restrictions weighing on its 25 million inhabitants, who had since been confined to less the beginning of April in order to face an outbreak of Covid-19, the most virulent since 2020. But the deconfinement is not total: several hundred thousand people remain confined to their residential complexes due to the detection of positive cases. “What will happen if there are positive results? “Is the district lockdown [de Minhang] will really be lifted after sample collection? asks a user of the Weibo social network. “What will happen if there are positive results? Will the lockdown continue? », Worries another. The city hall on Thursday denied rumors that the rest of Shanghai would be confined again. The confinement has dealt a severe blow to the economy, but the metropolis has been coming back to life for a few days. Subways and buses are running again, while Shanghainese are enjoying the city’s restaurants, bars and parks. Some residents, however, are still stuck at home, which sometimes causes tension with the authorities. The Ministry of Health on Thursday reported nine new positive cases the day before in Shanghai. Read also: Article reserved for our Covid-19 subscribers: in Shanghai, the beginning of the return to life after two months of drastic confinement The Chinese capital, Beijing, is slowly approaching normality after closing restaurants, bars, sports halls and parks last month to eradicate an epidemic outbreak – much smaller than in Shanghai. The main district of the city, that of Chaoyang, however ordered the closing of clubs and bars on Thursday after the detection of a few cases, announced official media. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Chinese opinion divided by the zero Covid policy Le Monde with AFP