Shanghai loosens lockdown norms as Covid eases, over 12 million can leave homes

Covid-19 China: Shanghai had put the entire city into a strict lockdown at the beginning of the month.

The authorities in Shanghai said on Friday the city’s 12.38 million residents, almost half the population of China's financial hub, can now leave their homes as they are now in lower-risk areas.

A courier in a protective suit makes deliveries to a residential compound amid the coronavirus disease outbreak in Shanghai, China.(Reuters)

Battling China's biggest-ever coronavirus outbreak, Shanghai had put the entire city into lockdown at the beginning of the month. Some of the restrictions on residential areas have been loosened where there has been no fresh case in two weeks.

By April 28, the number of people unable to leave home has been reduced by 6.6 million, said Zhao Dandan, deputy director of Shanghai's health commission, adding the number of people in sealed and controlled zones has clearly fallen.

According to a Reuters report, Shanghai classifies each housing unit according to three levels of risk, designating those that have not seen a Covid-19 positive case for 14 days as "prevention zones", allowing residents to go out for "appropriate" activities.

Another 5.93 million medium-risk residents are now allowed, in principle, to leave their apartments but are still confined to their compounds.

The government said 52 people died of the virus on April 28, up from 47 a day earlier. Their average age was 84.

The city reported 9,545 new asymptomatic cases on Thursday, up from 9,330 a day earlier, with symptomatic cases also surging to 5,487, from 1,292 the previous day.

(With inputs from agencies)