What’s new: The government of the eastern city of Suzhou said it currently has no plans to lock down the entire city, after a rising number of Covid cases sparked concerns over whether the city would take the same strict measures as neighboring Shanghai, which is grappling with its worst Covid-19 outbreak since the pandemic began.
Suzhou, a high-tech industrial hub in East China’s Jiangsu province, has reported more than 400 local infections since March 10, authorities said. Most of the recent cases were found with links to Shanghai, according to Gu Haidong, executive vice mayor of Suzhou.
Although Suzhou currently doesn’t plan to institute a citywide lockdown of its nearly 13 million residents, it will divide the city into three districts and impose three levels of restrictions according to the varying risk-levels from Covid, Gu said at a press conference Tuesday.
The same ‘dynamic’ control measures were applied in Shanghai, which has lifted lockdowns on some 4.8 million residents since Monday.
What’s more: As of noon Tuesday, Suzhou had sealed off 112 local areas. Residents outside the closed areas can move around within their communities, or even go outside them, according to local authorities.
Gu urged authorities to put measures in place while ensuring that residents can go about their daily lives. Photos circulating online showed some Suzhou residents have started stockpiling food due to concerns about food shortages, after many people in Shanghai had experienced the problem.
Contact reporter Wang Xintong (xintongwang@caixin.com) and editor Bertrand Teo (bertrandteo@caixin.com)
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