Despite stringent measures to control the spread of the virus, Shanghai observed a massive increase in daily COVID-19 infections. The daily cases were three times higher, necessitating an early lockdown in several western areas of Shanghai. On March 29, Shanghai reported 5,656 asymptomatic COVID cases and 326 symptomatic cases.

Several economists have predicted that shutting down a major city like Shanghai, China′s financial center, would result in a 4% loss in the country′s actual gross domestic product.

Since the lockdown began on Monday, more than 9.1 million nucleic acid tests have been performed, and various public areas, schools, and office buildings have been disinfected. After seeing an increase in the number of new local infections in the last two weeks, the National Health Commission (NHC) was in the process of establishing 82 temporary hospitals across 46 cities, which is more than double the number decided previously. (Reuters, March 30, 2022)