Shanghai lockdown: city records rise in new Covid cases for second day but community infections remain at zero

Shanghai brought its community Covid-19 infections back to zero, with new cases rising just slightly, keeping the city on track for a full return to normality by the end of June.

New infections increased for the second day, nudging up 1.2 per cent to 868 in the past 24 hours, according to data released on Saturday. Symptomatic cases dropped 4.5 per cent to 84, while one patient died, compared to a zero death toll recorded a day earlier.

No cases were discovered in low-risk unguarded zones, indicating that the mainland’s commercial and financial capital is able to limit infections to only people in quarantine.

Cumulative death toll since April 18 stood at 581, or 0.09 per cent of the 624,000 people who have caught the disease since March 1 in one of China’s largest population centres.

“Shanghai has maintained a status of societal zero-Covid, which could give city officials the confidence to enforce its plan to gradually relax lockdowns,” said Meng Tianying, a senior executive at Shanghai-based consultancy Domo Medical.

“Anti-pandemic curbs will still be strictly implemented at factories, office buildings and bus and subway stations, as local authorities are trying to stop the virus from leaking to public places.”