The major Chinese financial centre of Shanghai extended restrictions on transportation on Tuesday after a day of intensive city-wide testing saw new COVID-19 cases surge to more than 13,000, with no end to the lockdown yet in sight, Trend reports citing Reuters.
After originally taking a more piecemeal approach aimed at minimising economic disruptions, Shanghai imposed a two-stage lockdown last week as authorities struggled to contain what had become the city's biggest ever COVID-19 outbreak.
The lockdown was originally set to end on Tuesday in the city's western districts, but has now been extended until further notice.
Shanghai reported a record 13,086 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases on April 4, the city government said on its official WeChat channel on Tuesday, up from 8,581 the previous day, after a city-wide surveillance testing programme that saw more than 25 million people swabbed in 24 hours.
Symptomatic cases fell on Monday to 268, from 425 a day earlier. The proportion of official symptomatic infections remains far lower than the rest of the world, which experts have attributed to the city's proactive screening process.
At least 38,000 personnel have been deployed to Shanghai from other regions in what state media has described as the biggest nationwide medical operation since the shutdown of Wuhan in early 2020.