China's largest COVID-19 lockdown in two years begins in Shanghai

After days of uncertainty, China began its largest lockdown in two years to conduct mass testing in a bid to contain the fresh COVID-19 outbreak in its largest city of Shanghai.

According to Press TV, the country’s financial capital with around 26 million population has been placed under partial lockdown.

The city residents have been asked to stay home as the eastern half of Shanghai, including the main airport and business district known as Pudong, have gone into lockdown.

Authorities aim to carry out mass testing for city inhabitants amid a sharp spike in fresh virus cases.

In recent weeks, Shanghai has become China's coronavirus hotspot with 3,500 new confirmed cases recorded in the city on Monday.

The bustling commercial hub had managed its smaller, past outbreaks earlier with limited lockdowns.

The latest lockdown will be the country’s most extensive since the central city of Wuhan, where the virus was first detected in late 2019, was locked down for 76 days in early 2020.

In the first phase of the two-phase lockdown, Shanghai's Pudong financial district and nearby areas will be locked down from Monday to Friday, according to the local government.

In the second phase, starting Friday, the massive downtown area west of the Huangpu River that divides the city will begin its five-day lockdown.

Shanghai's Disneyland theme park is among the businesses that had closed earlier. Automaker Tesla is also temporarily suspending operations at its Shanghai plant, according to media reports.

Panic-buying was reported on Sunday in the city, as people rushed to the supermarket to stock up food, drinks, and other household items. 

China has called its "zero-tolerance" approach the most economical and effective prevention strategy against the pandemic.

ME