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Shanghai, China’s commercial capital, warned on Wednesday that anyone who violates COVID-19 lockdown rules will face harsh punishment, while also rallying people to defend their city as the number of new cases rose to more than 25,000. The city police department outlined the restrictions that the majority of the city’s 25 million residents face and urged them to “fight the epidemic with one heart… and work together for an early victory.”
“Those who violate the terms of this notice will be prosecuted in accordance with the law by public security organs… If it is a crime, they will be investigated in accordance with the law “According to a statement issued by the department.
The financial centre is under intense pressure to contain China’s largest COVID-19 outbreak since the coronavirus was discovered in late 2019 in the city of Wuhan, some 800 kilometres (500 miles) to the west.
Aside from those engaged in epidemic prevention work or transporting people in need of immediate treatment, Shanghai police also banned cars from the streets.
They also warned increasingly agitated residents, millions of whom are confined to their homes and struggling to obtain basic necessities, not to spread false information or forge road passes or other clearance certificates.
Shanghai reported 25,141 new subclinical coronavirus cases on Tuesday, up from 22,348 the day before, and symptomatic cases increased to 1,189 from 994, according to city officials.
Shanghai’s COVID measures, which reflect China’s strict “zero-COVID” methodology aimed at removing transmission chains, have reverberated throughout the global economy, with analysts warning that they are affecting supply chains across sectors in addition to tourism and hospitality.
“The widespread lockdown and tighter zero-COVID restrictions in several cities around Shanghai have caused significant supply disruptions, with transport and logistics under severe pressure,” said Jian Chang, an economist at Barclays Bank.
At least 11 Taiwanese companies, mostly producing electronic components, announced on Wednesday that they were suspending production due to the disruption caused by China’s COVID controls.
Economic and supply pressures, according to Chang, “likely have accelerated the transition towards a gradual and cautious existence from zero-COVID.”
According to the Caixin media group, Shanghai was one of eight cities involved in a pilot scheme initiated on Monday to reduce centralised quarantine requirements from 14 to 10 days, citing a government plan outlined in an unofficially published document.
The report’s sources were not immediately available for comment.
