Fourth wave scare: Shanghai now using metal barriers to block off streets to control Covid-19 spread

(Photo credit: IANS)

Shanghai's new tool in its fight against Covid-19 that induced some rigorous pandemic measures as part of China’s zero Covid policy is metal barriers.

Volunteers and low-level government workers are using metal and steel barriers to block off small streets and entrances to apartment complexes, PTI reported.

Entrances sealed, metal barriers erected in Shanghai

In the city's financial district, Pudong, the barriers either thin metal sheets or mesh fences were erected in several neighbourhoods under a local government directive, according to Caixin, a Chinese business media outlet.

Buildings where positive cases have been found sealed up their main entrances, with a small opening for pandemic prevention workers to pass through.

On social media, people posted videos of the new barriers being put up Saturday, with some expressing anger over the measures. The barriers are meant to leave main roads unblocked, Caixin reported.

In one video, verified by the AP, residents leaving a building in Shanghai's Xuhui district broke down the mesh fence barricades at their front entrance and went looking for the security guard they believed to be responsible for putting it up.

Many residents in the city have had difficulties getting groceries, resorting to bartering and bulk buying. Others have been unable to get adequate medical attention in time, owing to the strict controls on movement.

Shanghai’s zero Covid policy

Shanghai is using a tiered system in which neighbourhoods are divided into three categories based on their risk of transmission. Those in the first category face the strictest Covid-19 controls and were the main target of the new heightened measures.

 In the third category, some buildings allow people to leave their homes and visit public areas.

The city's lockdown has drawn global attention for its strict approach and sometimes dangerous consequences.

 On Friday, Chinese internet users shared a six-minute video called Voices of April that documents some of the most challenging public moments the city has experienced in the nearly month-long lockdown.

One part features audio of residents in one Shanghai community who protested on April 8, screaming: "Send us food! Send us food! Send us food! in unison.

China Covid surge

China has reported 21,796 new community-transmitted Covid-19 infections on Sunday, with the vast majority being asymptomatic cases in Shanghai. Across the country, many cities and provinces have enforced some version of a lockdown in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.

The latest outbreak, driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, has spread nationwide but has been particularly large in Shanghai. The city, a financial hub with 25 million residents, has counted hundreds of thousands of cases but fewer than 100 deaths since the outbreak began nearly two months ago.

(With PTI inputs)