Daily cases drop to new low in Shanghai as city government vows to boost economy while maintaining zero Covid goal
- New daily infections fell 35.6 per cent to 170 cases on Friday, the seventh consecutive day of decline, according to data released on Saturday
- Speeding up the resumption of work and production to boost the economy will be the ‘core task’ in the next stage, said Shanghai’s mayor Gong Zheng
Shanghai authorities have pledged to boost the local economy based on instructions from Premier Li Keqiang this week, while doubling down on the “dynamic zero” Covid-19 policy as the city prepares to end its two-month lockdown on June 1.
New daily infections fell 35.6 per cent to 170 cases on Friday, the seventh consecutive day of decline, according to data released on Saturday. Cases showing symptoms also dipped 13.3 per cent to 39, the fourth day that the number held below 50, while not a single patient died.
But one infection was discovered outside the precautionary zones in the southwestern district of Songjiang, highlighting the challenges in keeping the highly transmissible Omicron variant completely at bay. It was the first community infection, or new case outside quarantine areas, in three days. The last community infection was found in northern Shanghai’s Jiading district on Tuesday.
Three close contacts of the new community infection case also tested positive on Saturday, all of them family members living in the same place. None had left the Songjiang district in the past 14 days, according to officials speaking at a government press conference on Saturday.
However, residents should not worry about the new cases in Songjiang district, as thorough virus control measures could prevent a resurgence, Sun Xiaodong, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said during the press conference.
“One community infection will not stop Shanghai from easing the lockdown,” said Wang Feng, chairman of Shanghai-based financial service firm Ye Lang Capital. “Company owners and senior executives are hoping that they can resume business operations as soon as possible.”
Shanghai is planning to lift the city’s lockdown on June 1 in a gradual and phased manner that aims to restore business activity, production and daily livelihoods to full normality by the end of the month.