China's financial hub Shanghai reported over 27,000 coronavirus cases on Thursday, a new high, a day after President Xi Jinping said that the country must continue with its strict &dynamic COVID clearance& policy and pandemic control measures.Shanghai is battling China's worst COVID-19 outbreak since the virus first emerged in Wuhan in late 2019, with its 25 million residents remaining largely under lockdown, though restrictions were partially eased in some areas this week, Reuters reported.Wider curbs to stop the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant have led to logistical and supply chain disruptions that are taking a growing economic toll, adding to expectations that China's central bank will soon announce more stimulus measures.Shanghai residents, meanwhile, have taken to social media to vent frustration over the difficulties of getting enough food and China's policy that requires anyone testing positive, symptomatic or not, to be centrally quarantined, where many people have complained about poor conditions.A video provided on Thursday to Reuters from inside one quarantine centre showed people in camp beds separated by less than an arm's length.
An occupant said more than 200 people there shared four toilets, with no showers.A city official said that cases continued to rise despite the lockdown in part because of a backlog of test results and because of ongoing transmission among family members.The post Shanghai cases hit record high as Xi reiterates urgency of COVID curbs first appeared on Ariana News.