Shanghai takes baby steps towards ending lockdown

STORY: As China's most populous city aims to end its lockdown from Wednesday (June 1), the authorities have been allowing more people out of their homes and more businesses to reopen over the past week. But most residents remain confined to their compounds and most shops can only do deliveries.

Some residents gathered in local parks after more than 30 parks had reopened as of Thursday (May 26), with visitor numbers capped below 50% of their maximum capacity, the Shanghai Daily reported. By Tuesday (May 31), 70 more parks will reopen.

The district of Pudong, home to the Port of Shanghai, the city's largest airport and its main finance centre, reopened 115 bus routes on Friday. Shanghai is slowly expanding public transport after reopening four of its 20 subway lines and more than 250 bus routes on Sunday (May 22).

Shanghai reported 131 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases for May 27, down from 219 a day earlier, while symptomatic cases also fell to 39 from 45, the city government said on Saturday (May 28).

One new case was reported outside quarantined areas, compared with zero a day earlier.

Shanghai recorded zero COVID-19-related deaths for May 27, versus one a day earlier.