Communist Party leader in the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai, Li Qiang, declared victory over the coronavirus at the start of a party congress on Saturday. No infections have been detected in the city since June 24.
“The authorities have won the war to defend Shanghai,” said the party chief who is a close confidant of President Xi Jinping.
Li Qiang defended the draconian measures introduced especially on March 28 to halt the spread of variant omikron of the coronavirus. Many measures, such as mandatory weekly corona tests, are not yet being deleted immediately.
The lockdown measures including detaining people who tested positive in crowded detention centres have sparked protests. The economic damage of the lockdowns in normally the busiest container port in the world is considerable. But the Chinese government says it will not tolerate a single infection.
It has been announced in the capital Beijing that primary and secondary schools will reopen. Kindergartens will follow on July 4.
