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SOME RESIDENTS OF Shanghai were allowed out of their homes as the city of 25 million eased a two-week-old shutdown after a video posted online showed what was said to be people who ran out of food breaking into a supermarket.
About 6.6 million people can go outdoors, but some must stay in their own neighbourhoods, the online news outlet The Paper reported, citing city officials.
The government said some markets and pharmacies would reopen.
A health official warned Shanghai does not have Covid-19 under control despite easing restrictions.
“The epidemic is in a period of rapid growth,” said Lei Zhenglong of the National Health Commission at a news conference.
“Community transmission has not been effectively contained.”
The abrupt closure of most businesses starting March 28 and orders to stay home left the public fuming about lack of access to food and medicine.
People who test positive for the virus are forced into sprawling temporary quarantine facilities criticised by some as crowded and unsanitary.
Meanwhile, the US government announced all “non-emergency US government employees” would be withdrawn from its Shanghai Consulate.
A foreign ministry spokesman defended China’s handling of the outbreak and accused Washington of politicising its evacuation.
Also Tuesday, the government of Guangzhou, a manufacturing and trading centre northwest of Hong Kong, announced a new round of virus testing for its 19 million people.
Most access to the city was stopped after 27 infections were found on Monday.
The unusual severity of Shanghai’s shutdown appeared to be driven as much by politics as by public health concerns.
The struggle in China’s richest city is an embarrassment during a politically sensitive year when President Xi Jinping is expected to try to break with tradition and award himself a third five-year term as leader of the ruling Communist Party.
China’s case numbers are relatively low, but the ruling party is enforcing a “zero-tolerance” strategy aimed at isolating every case.
Some officials have been fired for failing to act aggressively enough, which gives others an incentive to impose extreme measures.
The government reported 24,659 new cases through midnight Monday, including 23,387 with no symptoms.
That included 23,346 in Shanghai, only 998 of whom had symptoms.
In Shanghai, more than 200,000 cases but no deaths have been reported in the latest wave of infections.
The government eased restrictions by announcing residents of areas with no cases for at least two weeks can leave their homes starting on Tuesday.
It said they could go to other areas that also had no new cases during that time but were urged to stay home when possible.
Such “prevention areas” have about 4.8 million people, The Paper reported, citing city officials.
It said all but 500,000 of those were in less crowded suburbs.
An additional 1.8 million people in “control areas” with no new cases in the past week are allowed out but can’t leave their neighbourhoods, the report said.
Another 15 million people in “quarantine areas” that have had infections in the past week still are barred from leaving their homes.
The report gave no indication of the status of the remaining 3.4 million people in the official population.
The shutdown of Shanghai, home of the world’s busiest port and China’s main stock exchange, has prompted fears manufacturing and global trade might be disrupted.
Carmakers in Shanghai, a manufacturing centre, have suspended or reduced production due to interruptions in supplies of components.
The port’s management says operations are normal, but European Union Chamber of Commerce in China has estimated the volume of cargo it handles every day has fallen 40%.
Residents complained the shutdown left them without access to food or medicine and unable to look after elderly relatives who lived alone.
The government distributed packages of vegetables and other food for a few days at least twice to some households.
Others said they received nothing.
A video that circulated online Saturday showed what a caption said were people in the Songjiang district breaking into a supermarket and carrying away cartons of food.
Police denied the event occurred in Shanghai.
The Associated Press was unable to find the source of the video or when and where it was shot.
Official plans in late March called for suspending access to districts of Shanghai for four days at a time while residents were tested. After case numbers soared, that changed to an indefinite citywide shutdown with only a few hours’ notice.
Despite a promise by city officials to improve food supplies, residents said online grocers often sold out early in the day or were unable to deliver.
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Not very “Labour” to vote against workers rights I would have thought.
Exactly. They should be made rename the party. Pity there aren’t more TD’s like McNamara!
Fair play to him for sticking to his principles and trying to bring us in line with international law and best practice. Shame the government didn’t support him.
But he can’t do that and the government can’t have a vote on that because I think it was the E.C.J. has ruled that it is illegal not to let the Gardaí the right to strike. So the E.U. has told this government they are breaking the E.U. law not to allow them to strike.
This is done for show for this useless government, the squeak of the worm not the turn as the E.U. will never allow that… lol.
If the guards did go on strike, how could we tell ?
The sale of doughnuts would collapse , that would be a likely indicator .
There wont be 15 standing over your water meter when you get home.
I’m nearly sure this is the first time a government has voted against a ruling that came from the European social charter. It just goes to show the lack of respect they have for army and gardai . At the very least they could begin to allow such groups to negotiate on pay and conditions themselves. Leave the strike issue for another time when more thought is put into it. It’s now the situation where gardai and army personnel are 2nd class citizens in all but name and these are the very people we need when we are at our most vulnerable. Incredible really.
I think that SF/IRA would be in favour of all of the defence forces going on strike.
There is no SF/IRA and never was
#labour cant afford to lose any more politicians as they face wipeout in next election. Seems strange even being allowed to bring in a bill that your own party is going to vote against. anyway glad it failed for once. have no respect for the cops in this country, and now they are looking for tasers. God help us all.
Fair Play to him but I can’t help thinking that a lot of people will be unruly in FG and Labour coming up to election time to give appearance of going against status quo etc.
They shouldn’t be allowed to strike as should transport operators especially CIE members
Why not strike how the nurses do then?
The E.U. has said it is illegal for this government to prevent them from striking and the government knows this, the rest is just spin for the news media but why is the government doing this, electioneering or what?
Trying to get a fine off the European Union I’d say.. They are only delaying the inevitable
Trying to get fines off the European Union
Ireland are not the only nation
And Oranges are not the only fruit.
The Gardai and the armed forces are not regular citizens. They should by all means be paid what is fair given their responsibilities but they should never be allowed to undermine the authority of the state. The armed forces in particular are an army that are servants of the sovereign state and should be heavily penalised for even suggesting a strike.
Lots of deli food would be left over cos no lads would be up to the garages at closing looking for the free scraps!
Dave the Army cannot go on strike, that’s called a mutiny and can lead to imprisonment and loss of employment. They cover whoever else goes on strike ie fire service, prison service, bin men etc. It’s a seven day week too and for a 24hr duty they get €48 before tax.
What a joke, he brings in a bill and his own party don’t support it. If memory serves me correctly didn’t Peter Mathews bring forward a bill and then vote against it because the party told him to do so ? That is not democracy !!
Niamh I’m almost sure this is all armies but here the army is not allowed into meeting about pay or conditions and are not represented unlike the Guards, nurses, firemen & prison officers. They all have unions or a representative body to fight their corner. The EU has said it is against EU law to not allow the military into pay meetings, yet this government just went against this finding.
Sean gardai are not allowed in to those meetings either. They have to employ a trade union to go in and do there bidding for them. Like the lads in the army they are treated like 2nd class citizens. Disgraceful
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