Sony Group partially restarted the Shanghai plant that makes televisions and video cameras in early May and aims to return to full operation over the next few months, according to its spokeswoman.

Containment of the highly contagious omicron variant in Shanghai will be seen as vindication for China’s intensive “COVID-zero” strategy, which allows no tolerance even as other countries live with the pathogen that triggered the most significant global health crisis in generations.

Thank-you letter criticised

The victory exacted a hefty toll on the economy, with factories shuttered for weeks and supply chains upended as China deployed the playbook of movement restrictions, mass testing and mandatory isolation of all COVID-19 cases and their close contacts.

The Shanghai government issued a thank-you letter to its citizens late on Tuesday, pledging to “spare no effort to promote the full restoration” of normal life and to “do our best to recover the time and losses caused by the epidemic”.

The letter, which took the #8 trending spot on the Twitter-like social media app Weibo, received broad criticism online, with people saying it should have been an apology and calling for punishment of the experts who led the virus response.

While barriers erected to confine people to their apartment complexes are being dismantled, Shanghai’s residents will emerge to a city changed by the lockdown. Vast makeshift hospitals were built to house the tens of thousands of infected and their close contacts. Many places remain off limits, with cinemas, gyms and museums still closed.

Seven & i Holdings, which has 150 7-Eleven convenience stores across the city, has opened some shops, but some may be affected by district-specific rules, according to its spokeswoman.

People will still need a valid negative PCR test result before leaving home. Workers returning to the office were reminded to avoid meeting in rooms, practise social distancing in canteens and to disinfect their keyboards. Most subway lines will resume operations with some initial limitations.

And with China committed to its COVID-Zero policy, the possibility that restrictions will be swiftly reimposed if any further virus flare-ups emerge hangs over the nation.

Regular testing is also set to become a standard feature of life. A network of tens of thousands of testing booths is being set up across the country’s largest and most economically vital cities, with the goal of having residents always just a 15-minute walk away from a swabbing point.

The infrastructure will allow cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, tech hub Shenzhen and e-commerce heartland Hangzhou to require tests as often as every 48 hours, with negative results needed to get on the subway or enter a store.

The testing plan shows the extent of China’s divergence from the world where COVID-19 infections are now commonplace. The next iteration relies on taking faster action based on test results to prevent the virus from seeding within a community, as it did in Shanghai.

Bloomberg

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