A semblance of coming back to life.

Shanghai experienced a relaxation of many anti-Covid restrictions on Wednesday, after two months of grueling confinement for the 25 million inhabitants of the megalopolis.

China's economic capital, the country's most cosmopolitan city, was locked down in stages from late March in response to a nationwide outbreak, the most virulent since 2020.

After already easing several restrictions in recent weeks, authorities are allowing residents of areas deemed “low risk” to move freely around the city.

"We all feel like we've all been through a big trauma, a collective trauma," Grace Guan, a 35-year-old Shanghainese, told AFP.

She says she went out at midnight in the streets, where several people were celebrating the beer in hand event.

"It's as if the Berlin Wall had fallen," she sums up.

Walk on the Bund

Workers proceeded during the day to dismantle high yellow barriers that surrounded the buildings.

And onlookers, masked, took advantage of their first steps of freedom.

The famous historic Bund, along the Huangpu River running through the city, came alive with locals taking photos in front of the iconic skyscraper landscape on the other side.

“This is the moment we have been waiting for for a long time”, welcomed the mayor of Shanghai on social networks.

Residents flocked to subway stations and buses, which were once again operational.

Others chatted in city parks, sometimes forming small groups.

“For two months, the only thing you had to worry about was buying food.

So today, I want to treat myself and buy clothes,” Annie Xu, a 33-year-old Shanghainese, told AFP in a luxury boutique.

Relative freedom

Shopping malls, convenience stores and beauty salons, however, can only operate at 75% capacity.

Parks and tourist sites are only gradually reopening.

Sports halls and cinemas remain closed and the reopening of schools will be done on a case-by-case basis.

Wearing a mask remains compulsory.

But travel by taxi or private car is allowed in low-risk areas.

The authorities have however warned: the total return to normal is not for now and more than half a million people remain subject to restrictions.

"It is appropriate for the time being not to lower our guard, in order to consolidate our achievements in the prevention and control of the epidemic", they underlined.

China continues to apply a zero Covid health strategy, which consists in particular of imposing quarantines and confinements as soon as a few cases appear.

This policy has prevented many deaths from Covid-19, but has dealt a severe blow to businesses.

Shanghai City Hall conceded "that accelerating economic and social recovery is now increasingly urgent".

The Ministry of Health on Wednesday reported only 15 new positive cases in Shanghai over the past 24 hours – compared to more than 25,000 at the end of April.

Shanghai's lockdown is the second longest in China since the start of the pandemic.

In 2020, that of Wuhan (center), the first city in the world affected by the epidemic, had lasted 76 days.

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