Shanghai will try to ease 7-week virus lockdown in few days

BEIJING (AP) — An official says Shanghai will try again to reopen in a few days after it has eliminated COVID-19 transmission among the population at large. An outbreak is waning in the city that is now in the seventh week of a strict lockdown that has been moved, lifted and reinforced at times to the frustration of residents. The lockdown is part of the ruling Communist Party’s “zero-COVID” goal that has exacted a mounting economic toll and that even the World Health Organization says may be unsustainable. Shanghai’s Vice Mayor Wu Qing said eliminating the virus in the community would allow for an “orderly opening” and limited movement sometime in mid-May. He didn’t specify a date or say how the reopening would occur.