Cases Of New Asymptomatic COVID-19 Infection Spike Sharply: Shanghai Tightens Lockdown, Restricts Transportation

Tenaga kesehatan di Shanghai Expo Exhibition Hall, China. (Wikimedia Commons/China News)

JAKARTA - Shanghai authorities have tightened lockdowns related to COVID-19, extending transport restrictions today, as new infection cases soared to more than 13,000 cases after a day of intensive testing.

After initially taking a more cautious approach to minimizing economic disruption, Shanghai imposed a two-stage lockdown last week as authorities struggled to contain what has become the city's biggest COVID-19 outbreak.

Originally, the lockdown was due to end Tuesday in the city's western district but has now been extended until further notice.

Shanghai reported a record 13,086 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases on April 4, the city government said on its official WeChat channel on Tuesday, up from 8,581 the previous day, after a city-wide surveillance testing program that saw more than 25 million people tested in the past 24 hours.

Symptomatic cases fell on Monday to 268, from 425 the day before. The proportion of official symptomatic infections remains significantly lower than the rest of the world, which experts attribute to the city's proactive screening process.

At least 38,000 personnel have been deployed to Shanghai from other regions in what state media described as the largest nationwide medical operation since the Wuhan shutdown in early 2020.

Authorities announced late Monday that further restrictions would be placed on the city's transport network from Tuesday, with more subway lines suspended.

Sun Chunlan, China's vice premier in charge of the COVID-19 response, said during an inspection of a testing site in Shanghai on Monday, prevention and control work was now at a 'tipping point' and every resident needed to be tested.

As members of the public continued to express concern about Shanghai's cruel actions, sharing videos on social media, Sun urged grassroots Party organizations to "do everything possible" to help citizens solve their problems.

Separately, analysts outside China have warned about the economic costs of the country's unyielding campaign to curb infections.

"Most striking in Shanghai are the difficulties authorities face in managing logistics, especially conditions at centralized quarantine facilities", said Michael Hirson, China analyst at consultancy Eurasia Group.

"Given that Shanghai has a very capable government, the current issue raises a warning to local governments across China that capacity is not as high and a major outbreak could stretch resources even further to the limit", he added.

To note, nationally, China reported 1,235 confirmed coronavirus cases for April 4, down from 1,405 the day before, including 1,173 local transmissions. The number of new asymptomatic cases stood at 15,355, compared with 11,862 the day before.