China’s Shanghai to carry out some Covid testing, residents say

Authorities in at least six districts in Shanghai notified residents that they would be carrying out mass PCR testing for Covid-19 on Tuesday, just over a month after the city’s lockdown was lifted.

Residents of Xuhui, Changning, Jingan, Baoshan, Minhang and Yangpu districts said they had received notices from their residential committees about the tests. Some were also told they would be asked to take a second test on Wednesday or Thursday.

The Shanghai government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The residential committees did not say in their notices why the testing was being arranged and how extensive it was.

The city reported eight new local Covid cases on Monday, seven of which it said were found in quarantined areas.

The city already requires all of its 16 districts to organise mass testing of residents every weekend until the end of July. Residents also need to test themselves every three days in order to enter public areas such as shopping malls or take public transport.

Although China’s most populous city has lifted a two month-long lockdown of its 25 million residents, it still imposes targeted curbs on movements whenever a Covid case is found outside quarantined areas.

City lockdowns and repeated mass testing, part of China’s zero-Covid policy that aims to eradicate all outbreaks, have brought case numbers down but many of the measures have fuelled anger and taken a toll on the economy.