Shanghai erects metal barriers in fight against COVID-19

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Volunteers and low-level government workers in Shanghai have erected metal barriers in multiple districts to block off small streets and entrances to apartment complexes, as China hardens its strict “zero-COVID” approach in the metropolis.

In the city's financial district, Pudong, the barriers — either thin metal sheets or mesh fences — were put up in several neighborhoods under a local government directive, according to Caixin, a Chinese business media outlet. Buildings where positive cases have been found sealed up their main entrances, with a small opening for pandemic prevention workers to pass through.

China reported 21,796 new community-transmitted COVID-19 infections on Sunday, with the vast majority being asymptomatic cases in Shanghai. Across the country, many cities and provinces have enforced some version of a lockdown in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.

The latest outbreak, driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, has spread nationwide, but has been particularly large in Shanghai. The city, a financial hub with 25 million residents, has counted hundreds of thousands of cases but fewer than 100 deaths since the outbreak began nearly two months ago.

An AP examination of the death toll found that despite a history of narrow criteria for linking deaths to particular diseases, especially COVID-19, authorities have changed how they count positive cases, leading to wiggle room in how they arrive at a final death count. The result is almost certainly an undercount of the true death toll.

On social media, people posted videos of the new barriers being put up Saturday, with some expressing anger over the measures. The barriers are meant to leave main roads unblocked, Caixin reported.

In one video, verified by the AP, residents leaving a building in...