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Shanghai official says handling of COVID outbreak below expectations as lockdown continues

09 April 2022 16:16 (UTC +04:00)

Shanghai's vice mayor admitted to shortcomings in the city's handling of its COVID-19 outbreak as a record 23,600 new cases were reported on Saturday, while the U.S. allowed non-essential staff and their families to leave its consulate in the city, APA reports citing Reuters.

Deputy Mayor Zong Ming praised the support from the public and the work of front line workers despite public criticism of strict curbs, but said the handling of the virus needed to improve.

"We feel the same way about the problems everyone has raised and voiced," Zong told a daily briefing. "A lot of our work has not been enough, and there's still a big gap from everyone's expectations. We will do our best to improve."

Beijing intervened after the failure of Shanghai's initial effort to isolate the virus by locking down in stages, insisting that the country stick to its zero-tolerance policy to prevent its medical system from being overwhelmed.

Elsewhere on Saturday, the southern megacity of Guangzhou - home to over 18 million people - said it would begin testing in all 11 of its districts, after cases were reported there on Friday.

In Shanghai, where 26 million people are in lockdown, residents have continued to complain about food shortages due to a lack of couriers and uncertainty about when lockdown curbs may end.

The government said it would conduct more testing on Saturday and would ease some movement curbs. Some residents of housing compounds with no recent cases said they had been notified by their neighbourhood committees that they could leave their homes to stroll within their compounds.