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Shanghai seals off ‘high-risk’ compounds as 2 new Covid-19 infections ignite fears about return of pandemic curbs
- The city’s government sealed off a clutch of residential compounds in the southwestern districts of Minhang and Xuhui
- ‘Company executives are keeping their fingers crossed that a new round of lockdown will never take place,’ says a marketing CEO
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Shanghai discovered two new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, ending an 11-day streak with no infections, prompting local authorities to double down on curbs to contain a resurgence of the pandemic stretching from mainland China’s southernmost province of Hainan to the northern Xinjiang autonomous region.
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The city’s government sealed off a clutch of residential compounds in the southwestern districts of Minhang and Xuhui, warning residents that more new cases are likely to surface because the two Covid-19 carriers had been freely roaming the streets before they tested positive.
“The two positive cases had been to some densely crowded public venues such as wet markets, supermarkets and foot massage salons,” Wu Huanyu, a deputy director of the Shanghai Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told a press briefing on Thursday evening. “Those venues carry high risks of cluster infections.”
One of the two patients, living in Minhang, had mild symptoms, while the other, a resident of Xuhui, was asymptomatic.
Zhao Dandan, deputy Shanghai health commissioner, told the briefing that people living in the compounds classified as “high-risk” zones had been told to stay at home for 10 days.
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He did not say how many people live in those zones.
02:50
China orders Covid lockdowns and mass testing as nationwide case numbers surpass 1,000
China orders Covid lockdowns and mass testing as nationwide case numbers surpass 1,000
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