As Shanghai's 25 million residents have been under strict home confinement since the start of the month due to a surge in coronavirus cases, the city's mayor's office announced a relaxation of some rules.
More than 12 million people can thus technically leave their homes, but must remain within the confines of their residence or their neighborhood, she said.
The degree of movement remains conditioned on Communist Party volunteers, who often apply anti-Covid measures with great zeal.
In Shanghai, exasperation mounts
This relaxation comes as the fed up of businesses and residents begins to rise in the city which was originally supposed to be confined for only four days.
The inhabitants of the economic capital seem increasingly exasperated by the difficulties of access to food and by the forced isolation of positive people in quarantine centers, with haphazard comfort and hygiene.
Multinationals, meanwhile, are concerned about the economic impact on global supply chains of the lockdown.
Many companies have stopped production.
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