The lockdown and testing will begin on Monday and last until April 1 for areas east of the Huangpu River. Areas west of the river will then be subject to restrictions and testing from April 1 to April 5, according to the New York Times. With the exception of those who provide basic services, people will not be allowed to leave their homes, non-core businesses will close and transit will stop, the Times reported. The move comes after Shanghai reported more than 2,600 cases of COVID-19 on Sunday following a handful of cases earlier this month. Unlike other Chinese cities that have adopted a zero-tolerance approach for COVID, the measures are closer to a full-scale lock seen by Shanghai amid the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant. Just last week, city officials denied rumors that a lockdown had been imposed across the city as COVID-19 cases rose to nearly 1,000 on Tuesday. At the time, authorities said they would take a “shredding and grid” approach to test neighborhoods for infections instead of closing the city. “Please do not believe and spread rumors,” municipal officials added at the time.
