Shanghai announced new restrictions nine hours before the lockdown of the east was scheduled to end at 5 a.m. Friday. It was unclear how many people would have to stay in their homes beyond that. Meanwhile, the four-day lockdown of the western part of Shanghai was set to start at 3 a.m.
Ma Chunlei, a senior Shanghai official, acknowledged shortcomings in the city's response. Authorities have rushed to bolster food deliveries to the city after panic buying stripped store shelves of necessities.
“We didn’t prepare sufficiently enough,” Ma said. "We sincerely accept the criticisms from the public and are making efforts to improve it.”
He spoke before the new rules for Pudong, the half of Shanghai on the east side of the Huangpu River, were announced Thursday night. People living in a building where a positive case had been found will be required to stay home for 10 more days. Residents of other buildings in the same residential compound will be confined for three more days.
People living in the surrounding neighborhood of a positive case will face less restrictive limits. They may be allowed out to shop for necessities, but only for a limited time on certain days.
The two-phase lockdown of Shanghai, being carried out over eight days, has shaken global markets worried about the possible economic impact. China’s manufacturing activity fell to a five-month low in March, a monthly survey showed Thursday, as lockdowns and other restrictions forced factories to suspend production.
German automaker BMW's plants in Shenyang, a northeastern city in Liaoning province, have been closed for more than a week because of pandemic controls.
Areas in Puxi will be put under lockdown from 3am on Friday until 3am on April 5 for polymerase chain reaction testing.
The operation of all subway lines and stations in Puxi will be suspended during the lockdown from tomorrow, while part of the lines and stations in Pudong and Punan areas will continue to be suspended, said Liu Bin, deputy director of Shanghai Transport Commission.
All bus lines in Puxi, apart from the airport shuttle buses, will be suspended. Some related bus services will either detour from the Puxi area or be shortened.
A flight or railway ticket on the day is required, along with a negative PCR report made within two days, if passengers need to catch a flight from Pudong or Hongqiao airports or a train from Hongqiao Railway Station.
All taxis and online hailing cars will be banned on roads during the lockdown in Puxi, but some taxis with a special pass can pick up arriving travelers at Shanghai Railway Station, Shanghai South Railway Station, Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station as well as the T1 and T2 terminals of Hongqiao airport.
Other transport services, including interprovincial coaches, some railway stations in Puxi and Pudong River ferries, will be suspended.