Beijing, Apr. 5, (dpa/GNA) - A Covid-19 lockdown for 26 million residents of Shanghai that was only supposed to last for a few days has been extended indefinitely, municipal authorities said Tuesday.

Referring to the rapid increase in infections, Gu Honghui, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai government, called the situation a “race against time.”

Officials were still waiting for the results of mass Covid-19 tests taken on Monday. Those who have been infected must then be taken to quarantine facilities.

“The situation is very acute,” Gu said.

The Health Commission in Beijing reported more than 16,000 new infections nationwide on Tuesday, the highest number in the current coronavirus wave in China and the worst in two years.

More than 15,000 of the cases are asymptomatic. In Shanghai alone, 268 new Covid-19 cases and more than 13,000 infections without symptoms were reported after across-the-board testing in the past few days.

The north-eastern Chinese province of Jilin is also badly affected.

Anyone who is infected in China needs to go to a hospital or a quarantine facility. Quarantine centres have been set up in gyms and exhibition halls in Shanghai, but are already nearly at capacity.

The city has seen more than 73,000 infections since the beginning of March. There are 47,700 temporary Covid patient beds, with another 30,000 being set up. In addition, more than 110,000 close contacts have been identified and are being monitored separately.

“The virus has spread quickly and in a hidden way,” Gu said.

With the city under lockdown and residents under stay-at-home orders, complaints are mounting about a lack of food. Gu admitted to difficulties but said authorities were working to provide residents with food and essential items.

He also acknowledged problems for the chronically ill or even pregnant women to receive medical care.

The fact that infected children are separated from their parents was causing particular outrage among families.

About 40,000 medical personnel from other regions have been transferred to Shanghai, including 2,000 military doctors. It is the largest mobilisation of medical personnel in China since the outbreak of the pandemic in Wuhan, where the virus was first detected in late 2019 and then overwhelmed hospitals.

Since then, the world’s most populous country has been quite successful in tackling outbreaks with curfews, mass testing, quarantine, cutting off transport links and sealing itself off from foreign countries.

But the approach that has worked for the past two years has been derailed by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Although many Chinese are vaccinated, the Chinese vaccines do not protect as effectively as their Western counterparts, studies suggest.

There is also a lack of natural immunity, as China has experienced comparatively few infections so far. Because of feared side effects due to age or disease, many older people are also not vaccinated and thus, particularly at risk.

Meanwhile, officials at the world’s largest port in Shanghai denied reports of delays and said operations are running normally.

According to media reports, however, there are problems with the transport of goods ashore. Many truck drivers from neighbouring provinces are reluctant to travel to Shanghai. Necessary personnel are also stuck at home due to the lockdown.

GNA

Beijing, Apr. 5, (dpa/GNA) - A Covid-19 lockdown for 26 million residents of Shanghai that was only supposed to last for a few days has been extended indefinitely, municipal authorities said Tuesday.

Referring to the rapid increase in infections, Gu Honghui, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai government, called the situation a “race against time.”

Officials were still waiting for the results of mass Covid-19 tests taken on Monday. Those who have been infected must then be taken to quarantine facilities.

“The situation is very acute,” Gu said.

The Health Commission in Beijing reported more than 16,000 new infections nationwide on Tuesday, the highest number in the current coronavirus wave in China and the worst in two years.

More than 15,000 of the cases are asymptomatic. In Shanghai alone, 268 new Covid-19 cases and more than 13,000 infections without symptoms were reported after across-the-board testing in the past few days.

The north-eastern Chinese province of Jilin is also badly affected.

Anyone who is infected in China needs to go to a hospital or a quarantine facility. Quarantine centres have been set up in gyms and exhibition halls in Shanghai, but are already nearly at capacity.

The city has seen more than 73,000 infections since the beginning of March. There are 47,700 temporary Covid patient beds, with another 30,000 being set up. In addition, more than 110,000 close contacts have been identified and are being monitored separately.

“The virus has spread quickly and in a hidden way,” Gu said.

With the city under lockdown and residents under stay-at-home orders, complaints are mounting about a lack of food. Gu admitted to difficulties but said authorities were working to provide residents with food and essential items.

He also acknowledged problems for the chronically ill or even pregnant women to receive medical care.

The fact that infected children are separated from their parents was causing particular outrage among families.

About 40,000 medical personnel from other regions have been transferred to Shanghai, including 2,000 military doctors. It is the largest mobilisation of medical personnel in China since the outbreak of the pandemic in Wuhan, where the virus was first detected in late 2019 and then overwhelmed hospitals.

Since then, the world’s most populous country has been quite successful in tackling outbreaks with curfews, mass testing, quarantine, cutting off transport links and sealing itself off from foreign countries.

But the approach that has worked for the past two years has been derailed by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Although many Chinese are vaccinated, the Chinese vaccines do not protect as effectively as their Western counterparts, studies suggest.

There is also a lack of natural immunity, as China has experienced comparatively few infections so far. Because of feared side effects due to age or disease, many older people are also not vaccinated and thus, particularly at risk.

Meanwhile, officials at the world’s largest port in Shanghai denied reports of delays and said operations are running normally.

According to media reports, however, there are problems with the transport of goods ashore. Many truck drivers from neighbouring provinces are reluctant to travel to Shanghai. Necessary personnel are also stuck at home due to the lockdown.

GNA