It Took Just 10 Days For Shanghai To Descend Back Into Lockdown

Residents of Shanghai are reportedly panic-buying goods as millions face a new round of COVID-19 testing, Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported Friday.

Just 10 days after a two-month lockdown that caused food shortages and protests ended on June 1, Shanghai ordered COVID-19 testing for 14 of the city’s 16 districts throughout the coming weekend, ABC reported. The Shanghai Municipal Health Commission announced on Friday it had traced a cluster of new COVID-19 cases back to an e-commerce warehouse in the busy Wujiaochang shopping area within Shanghai’s northern Yangpu district, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation translation.

Following the announcement, Shanghai residents crowded supermarkets in order to stock-up on food and other essential supplies, ABC reported. Shoppers encountered long lines and empty shelves at many supermarkets, according to CNN.

Shanghai residents who wish to shop at a grocery store or visit a public venue must first comply with temperature monitoring and possess a 72-hour valid negative nucleic acid testing, Chinese state-run media outlet, Global Times, reported.

During Shanghai’s two-month lockdown, multiple videos emerged depicting government health workers killing stray cats and dogs which had reportedly been let loose by owners forced to enter government quarantine facilities. Video reportedly depicting hungry residents rioting for food and supplies also appeared on social media after clips surfaced showing locked down residents screaming for help from their apartment windows.

Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy, told The Daily Caller News Foundation that China’s zero-COVID policy has been a great success.

“China’s dynamic zero-COVID policy and anti-epidemic protocols are based on science and expert opinions and consistent with its national realities and the WHO’s guiding principles,” Liu said. “They have effectively protected the life and health of Chinese and foreign nationals living in China and made important contributions to the global fight against the pandemic.”

“The numbers of confirmed cases and fatalities and the statistics of economic growth of China all point to the conclusion that China’s COVID-19 containment is among the most successful in the world,” said Liu.

Shanghai, home to almost 29 million inhabitants, has reported 588 deaths during the recent Omicron outbreak, while China has reported 5,226 deaths since the pandemic began. However, critics, such as The Washington Post, dispute the accuracy of China’s accounting.