Cut off from the world Shanghai with a disease record.

Authorities in Beijing intervene in Shanghai after failing to isolate COVID by blocking the city in stages, and urges the country to stick to its zero disease policy, which it says is essential to keeping the death rate low and preventing the collapse of the medical system. So far, the strategy has not brought satisfactory results. Local authorities across China, most of which have successfully contained COVID in the past two years, are tightening coronavirus control measures. Closed public transport and a stay-at-home warrant are similar to strategies that have been implemented in Europe. Back then, the incidence rates were far from zero.

The Chinese authorities, however, are not giving up. In Beijing, it is recommended that employees are regularly screened in key sectors of the city, requiring that all welfare workers, schools, and commercial institutions are tested at least once a week.

Another series of tests are announced in Shanghai. People with positive results will be treated in quarantine facilities that are already overcrowded. Home isolation should only apply to healthy people.

Leaving the house is impossible, and replenishing food and water supplies is the responsibility of the military and medical services. In a city with a population of 26 million, it is difficult to maintain an adequate pace of deliveries. The voices of dissatisfaction are getting louder on social media. Hungry and locked in their homes, the Chinese are becoming more and more aware of their situation. The gigantic Shanghai has become a testing ground for China's disease eradication strategy. One step in alleviating the situation is the change in the regulations concerning the separation of sick children from their parents.