Shanghai authorities said on Thursday tough restrictions would remain in place for now even in districts that managed to cut Covid-19 transmission to zero, as the number of cases outside quarantined areas across the city rose again.
That sober assessment came after health officials earlier in the week had fuelled hopes of some return to normal by saying that trends in recent days showed Shanghai had "effectively curbed transmissions".
The central district of Jingan, home to nearly 1 million people and some of the city's flashiest malls, on Thursday morning, said it would no longer allow any residents out of their housing compounds citing risks of large gatherings.
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At a regular press conference, the deputy governor of Chongming district, an outlying island area, said most curbs would be kept in place, although it has reported zero cases outside quarantined areas and 90% of its 6,40,000-or-so residents were now in theory allowed to leave their homes.
Supermarkets would remain shut to shoppers, vehicles would not be allowed on roads without approval, and only one person from each household would be allowed to leave home each day in some towns in Chongming, deputy governor Zhang Zhitong said.
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"For those in prevention areas, we have to continue to ensure that they don't become 'free to fly' areas," he said, referring to neighborhoods where residents are allowed to leave their housing compounds.
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Shanghai reported 15,861 new local asymptomatic coronavirus cases on Wednesday, down from 16,407 a day earlier. Symptomatic cases stood at 2,634, up from 2,494.
There were 441 new cases outside quarantined areas, up from 390 a day earlier.
Eight people with Covid-19 died in Shanghai on Wednesday, authorities said, bringing the death toll of the current outbreak to 25 - all recorded in the past four days.
