Shanghai’s covid-19 lockdown is not even close to over

THE 25M RESIDENTS of Shanghai could be forgiven for not recognising their own city in the pages of the local press. Most have been locked in their homes for weeks because of an outbreak of covid-19. Yet an article published on May 9th in a state-owned rag noted how residents in some districts are happily returning to their local markets. Another explains that, with covid on the wane, interest in Shanghai from global investors is picking up again. The People’s Daily, a mouthpiece of the Communist Party, referred to the long lockdown as a “pause”.

It is true that the number of new cases in Shanghai has fallen from more than 25,000 a day in mid-April to fewer than 2,000 recently. But restrictions in the city are being tightened. Areas that were slowly reopening have closed again. New barriers seal off housing compounds that were accessible days earlier. Residents may be carted off to a quarantine facility if an infection is found on a nearby floor. Food-delivery services, crucial to keeping Shanghai fed, have been barred from some areas.