Shanghai lockdown tests ‘zero-COVID’ limits, shakes markets

By KEN MORITSUGU
Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — A two-phase lockdown of Shanghai’s 26 million people is testing the limits of China’s hard-line “zero-COVID” strategy whose effects are being felt beyond the country’s borders. The city entered the second day Tuesday of the first phase of a lockdown including the Pudong financial district and adjacent areas. The measures, which confine residents to their homes and close nonessential businesses, are to be lifted on Friday. Then the vast Puxi area on the opposite side of the river dividing the city will go under lockdown. Shanghai is a hub for finance, manufacturing and trade. Authorities are working to ensure food supplies and have converted gymnasiums and exhibition centers to house patients, most of whom show no symptoms.