“We are trying to achieve a dynamic zero-Covid goal as soon as possible.”

Shanghai’s heightened Covid-19 measures leave patients without treatment

In Changchun, the provincial capital of Jilin, health authorities said in a letter to residents on Sunday that they would impose zero-Covid measures over the next five days with the aim of reaching dynamic zero-Covid in the whole community as soon as possible. They did not provide details of what these measures would entail.

Meanwhile in Suzhou, a city less than two hours drive west of Shanghai, health authorities said they had detected a new mutation of the Omicron variant that was not identified in local or international databases, state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday.

02:01

Grocery runners feed Shanghai as city hit by record Covid-19 cases

Grocery runners feed Shanghai as city hit by record Covid-19 cases

Shanghai’s new testing strategy was announced after a visit by Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan, who called for prompt and efficient mass screening to outpace the spread of the Omicron variant.

Sun, who left Jilin for Shanghai on Saturday, said it was a huge challenge to fight the Omicron outbreak while maintaining the normal operation of the city’s core functions.

“[Local authorities should] impose strict closed-loop management for key industries and institutions to ensure their normal operation and the smooth running of supply and industry chains,” she said, according to Xinhua.

She also asked the megacity to step up contact tracing, prepare isolation and treatment facilities, make sure residents’ medical needs were met and ensure the public could be provided with necessities.

03:32

Shanghai locks down western bank of Huangpu River as Covid fight continues in China’s biggest city

Shanghai locks down western bank of Huangpu River as Covid fight continues in China’s biggest city

Only a tiny number of manufacturing sites and service providers are allowed to keep running under a “closed-loop” system – which means workers effectively have to live at their factories or offices to keep operations running.

Wu said medical and Covid-19 testing teams from neighbouring parts of the country have arrived in the city to support its antivirus campaign.

The public health authorities said all positive cases would be transferred to designated hospitals or quarantine sites – ending speculation that some cases would be placed under home quarantine.

Wu, from the Shanghai health commission, said the city was building more temporary hospitals to accommodate Covid-19 patients and major exhibition sites, including the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Centre and Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), are being turned into temporary hospitals and quarantine centres.

Chinese cleaner sleeps in public toilet in lockdown, cleans it for locals without loos

The temporary hospitals are used to treat patients with mild symptoms or those who are asymptomatic.

The World Expo centre, built in 2010, is now home to a 6,000-bed temporary hospital, while SNIEC can hold about 14,000 patients.

Last Sunday, Shanghai announced that it would impose a two-phase lockdown, sealing off Pudong – the area on the east side of the Huangpu River – from Sunday to Friday before shutting down Puxi, the area to the west, between Friday and April 5.

But only a small number of residential compounds and commercial areas in Pudong classified as low-risk were allowed to reopen on Friday.

The district is a linchpin of China’s economy and hosts the country’s biggest stock exchange, major ports, the city’s main airport, Tesla’s massive Gigafactory 3 and the flagship factory of mainland China’s largest chip maker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation.