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Amid the largest lockdown in two years, the Chinese city of Shanghai on Friday launched the second phase of a massive COVID-19 PCR screening, local media reported citing local authorities.
The first lockdown phase lasted from 5 am (local time) March 28 until 5 am April 1 in the areas located east and south of the Huangpu River, including Pudong, Fengxian, Jinshan and Chongming districts, and several areas of Minhang and Songjiang. The second phase came into effect at 3 am (local time) today and will last until 3 am (local time) on April 5 in areas west of the Huangpu River, including Xuhui, Huangpu, and Jiading districts. The operation of public and private traffic is shut down, and the bridges over the river are also closed for the lockdown period. On Tuesday, the city's authorities said that more than 8.26 million residents were screened. Chinese mainland reported 1,787 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the National Health Commission said on Friday. Previously, Shanghai had managed its smaller previous outbreaks with limited lockdowns of housing compounds and workplaces where the virus was reported to be spreading. Last month, China has faced its worst outbreak since the coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan. From March 1 to 24, the country had reported 56,000 infections -- more than the total cases in Wuhan two years ago. The number of coronavirus cases and deaths reported by the Chinese authorities since the beginning of the pandemic in late 2019 is considered a tiny fraction of the real figures, with Beijing admitting to just over 1,00,000 total cases prior to the current surge. (ANI)
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