Shuttered Shanghai: Another day of record Covid cases, new round of tests begins

For the mainland, the cases also showed a record surge in the past 24 hours, crossing the 20,000 mark for the first time in two years since the pandemic began.

Beijing: Locked down Shanghai, China’s financial hub, began testing all its 25 million residents again for Covid-19 on Wednesday, after the city logged a record 17,077 locally transmitted cases including 311 symptomatic cases for Tuesday.

A worker in a protective suit directs residents lining up for nucleic acid testing during the second stage of a two-stage lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Shanghai, China. (REUTERS)

Some residents will be asked to take nucleic acid tests, while the rest will be asked to self-test using antigen tests, city health officials said on Wednesday.

The lockdown, which was supposed to have ended on Tuesday, is now expected to last until further notice from the local government.

Local officials are scrambling to contain the fast spreading outbreak, triggered by the Omicron variant.

For the mainland, the cases also showed a record surge in the past 24 hours, crossing the 20,000 mark for the first time in two years since the pandemic began.

The Chinese mainland reported 20,472 Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, including 1,383 new locally-transmitted symptomatic Covid-19 cases, the national health commission said on Wednesday.

Of the local confirmed cases reported on Tuesday, the majority of symptomatic 973 cases were reported in the northeastern province of Jilin.

Photos documenting eerily empty streets - in a city known for its crowded river fronts and cultural vibrancy - with only hazmat-suited workers walking around have been shared widely online.

For the first time, a family-friendly Covid-19 ward was opened at the provisional hospital at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, which has received 612 cases, including 100 children as of Tuesday afternoon, local news outlet Shanghai Observer reported.

Parents can accompany their infected children regardless of being positive or not for Covid-19, the report said.

Whether children infected with Covid-19 should be put under quarantine alone has triggered a wide discussion - and criticism - among Shanghai residents.

City officials have remained vague on the issue and the growing public concern, saying that while the treatment of minors needed to adhere to rules, authorities were also considering their needs.

Given the surge in Covid cases, Shanghai is converting the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) into a makeshift hospital with a planned capacity of 40,000 beds, official news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

Upon completion, it is expected to act as the biggest such hospital for those testing positive for Covid-19 in the metropolis, the report said.

Currently, approximately 47,700 beds in designated and improvised hospitals are reserved for Covid-19 patients.

Chen Xi, an associate professor at the School of Public Health of Yale University, told the state-run tabloid Global Times that there’s been discussion about allowing asymptomatic patients to quarantine at home.

“I think Shanghai could explore this possibility. In fact, the quickly growing number of silent carriers would limit the capacity of medical institutions, exceeding the speed of construction of makeshift hospitals,” Chen said.