Who said it was going to be easy? In Shanghai, the recent end of the strict two-month confinement to which the city was subjected has not immediately brought a return to normality for its residents, whose lives continue to be marked by control measures -PCR every 72 hours, technological registration of their movements - and the fear of being isolated again if new cases appear.
This is what happens to the 2.7 million inhabitants of the southwestern district of Minghang, who will have to confine themselves to their homes this Saturday morning to undergo a detection test for the pathogen. "The closure will be lifted when the samples have been collected," said the authorities, who did not set a specific deadline or the measures to be taken if a positive arises.
Even so, the measures implemented on previous occasions serve as a reference. According to China's "zero tolerance" policy, all infections must be isolated in specific centers and their close contacts - which often include all neighbors of the building or the community - must be quarantined for at least two weeks.
It is not the only initiative recently announced to nip any possible outbreak in the bud. Although millions of people have once again filled offices, parks or public transport, some urbanizations and streets have been closed again in the last week with green valleys and wooden boards to prevent their neighbors from leaving, which has caused anger and the protests of some.
This Thursday it was also announced that the inhabitants of at least three neighborhoods must stay in their homes until Saturday and carry out five mandatory screening tests that will end on June 23. Among them, the fear of a longer confinement floats in the environment. “When is this all going to end? I just want to have a normal life”, complained a user of Weibo, the Chinese Twitter.
All these measures are added to the obligation to take a PCR test every 72 hours if you want to take public transport or enter commercial buildings and shopping centers. To take these samples, which are free, up to 15,000 collection points have been deployed throughout the city, which does not prevent long queues from forming on occasions.
At the national level, the country recorded a total of 164 cases on Wednesday, figures that pale in comparison to those of any other country but that concern authorities that have made zero tolerance their banner during the pandemic.
The majority, 130, were detected in the province of Inner Mongolia, and only nine in Shanghai, all of them in quarantine areas. In the capital, the authorities of the Chaoyang district, with 3 million inhabitants, ordered this Thursday the closure of entertainment venues, fitness and Internet cafes and asked customers of four specific bars to identify themselves and isolate themselves.
Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities are working to reactivate an economy that is already showing signs of improvement after the relaxation of some controls in May. According to the data presented today, the Asian giant's exports grew by up to 15% year-on-year last month, a figure higher than the 10% forecast by analysts, while imports also rose by 2.8%, thus reversing the decline recorded in april.
It is also a good sign that the Shanghai Disney Resort, which has been closed since the end of March, announced the reopening of some shopping areas and parks as of this Friday, although maintaining a limited number of visitors and strict anti-virus control measures.
Still, the city's main Disneyland park and its two hotel complexes will remain closed until further notice, yet another sign that a full recovery will take time.
