China is fighting nascent COVID-19 flare-ups across the country with mass testing and fresh restrictions, including in weary Shanghai where new cases have been linked to a building which houses a karaoke lounge that was operating illegally.
Pressure is mounting on officials to avert a wider spread and disruptions similar to the painful and costly isolation that Shanghai, China’s most populous city, suffered in April and May.
“Several Chinese areas are facing local outbreaks and infections have emerged at the community level in Shanghai, to which we should attach great importance,” city health official Zhao Dandan told reporters on Wednesday.
“There should be no slacking,” Zhao said.
While the country’s latest daily caseload of just over 300 infections is insignificant by global standards, worries it could trigger another round of strict curbs weighed on Chinese stocks, and markets worldwide.
China is the only major economy digging in its heels on a “zero-COVID” policy aimed at promptly eradicating all outbreaks, while the rest of the world tries to co-exist with the virus.
Its uncompromising approach has led to rare displays of public anger and is weighing on the recovery of the world’s second-largest economy.
Shanghai, which reported 24 new cases for Tuesday versus eight the previous day, is testing all residents in nine of its 16 districts from Tuesday to Thursday as well as those in parts of three other districts.
The commercial hub of around 25 million already requires residents to get tested frequently in order to enter shopping malls or take public transport.
City authorities have suspended operations of karaoke lounges, but other recently-reopened cultural venues such as libraries will stay open. Cinemas are due to reopen on Friday.
