Private vehicles will be allowed back on the roads in Shanghai’s outlying Jinshan District from today.
With the coronavirus resurgence now stable and under control in Jinshan, private cars will be allowed to drive within the district, Cao Jie, deputy director of Jinshan, told the city government’s daily COVID-19 press briefing yesterday.
The district hasn’t reported new COVID-19 infections for three consecutive days.
The suburban district lifted the ban on private cars for medical purposes from May 4 and allowed them to drive within their towns from May 15, Cao revealed.
Shanghai restored the operations for the first batch of four Metro lines and more than 270 bus routes across the city from Sunday.
However, an e-pass is required for private vehicles to hit the road in downtown areas. The city’s traffic police said that only vehicles for COVID-19 prevention, daily supply transportation, city operation, emergency response and medical services are allowed on the road.
All public bus routes in Jinshan will also be restored from today as a pressure test for the full opening-up across the city.
According to the Jinshan Culture and Tourism Bureau, five tourist spots are reopening on a trial basis this week. Huakaihaishang Ecological Park, Langxia Ecological Park and Jinshan City Beach opened yesterday, while Luxiang Fruit Park and Tinglin Park will reopen on Friday.
During the trial run, entry will be limited to 30 percent of a park’s daily capacity, and less than 75 percent after June 1.
Visitors have to reserve online, scan health codes and show negative COVID-19 nucleic acid test results at the entrance gates before they are allowed inside the venues.
The number of local infections dropped 14 percent to 480 on Monday, the first time the daily number was under 500 since the citywide lockdown last month.
And, a total of 5,473 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after making a full recovery on Monday.
Discharged patients must undergo a weeklong home quarantine and receive a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test on the seventh day, Zhao Dandan, deputy director of Shanghai Health Commission, told the press briefing.
Designated cars should be arranged to take them to receive the PCR test at local public hospitals or medical staff will collect the samples on the door.
They should not take part in the community PCR screening within three months after being discharged, Zhao noted.
With Shanghai not reporting infections outside of quarantine zones for much of the past week, the city has allowed more people to leave their homes for brief periods, and more supermarkets and pharmacies have reopened.
But most restrictions are being kept in place, at least until the end of this month, before a broader return to normal life and work from June 1. Even then, public venues will have to cap people flows at 75 percent of capacity.
Offline business of shopping centers and department stores in the city will resume from June 1, the Shanghai Commission of Commerce said late on Monday.
Shopping centers and department stores are allowed to restart offline business in batches and in an orderly manner, with the total customer flow not exceeding 50 percent of the maximum capacity before May 31 and not exceeding 75 percent after June 1.
Meanwhile, local catering, hairdressing and homemaking services will gradually resume, the commission announced.
To support the economy, China will broaden tax credit rebates, postpone social security payments by small companies and loan repayments, and roll out new investment projects, among other measures, the State Council, China’s Cabinet, said on Monday.
In one positive signal for Shanghai, United States electric vehicle giant Tesla planned to reach production levels similar to those before the lockdown at its plant in the city, according to an internal memo yesterday.