Residents of Shanghai ‘pick the shelves clean’ in panic buying as lockdown rolls out

Residents in Shanghai have been thronging supermarkets and grocery stores to stock up on supplies amid rumours of an extended quarantine period and fears of food shortages in the locked down city.

On Sunday, authorities in China’s financial hub said they would lock down the city in two stages to carry out Covid-19 testing over a nine-day period, after the total number of new local cases crossed over 13,000 in nine days.

However, on 29 March, new daily cases jumped by a third since the previous day.

The city has been divided into two parts along the Huangpu river, with four-day lockdowns and mass testing drives from Monday in the Pudong area on the eastern bank.

For the Puxi area on the western bank, a four-day lockdown was scheduled from Friday. But as infections continue to rise despite stringent measures, some areas in the western parts of the city were locked down on Wednesday, two days ahead of schedule.

Some rumours have indicated that authorities may prolong the city’s quarantine period, which led to residents rushing to supermarkets.

While authorities on Tuesday issued a statement dismissing “pure rumours”, residents in the western areas received notices from housing groups that they would be stopped from leaving their homes for another week.

On Monday streets were packed with people stocking up on essentials in the central districts of Huangpu, Jing’an and Xuhui, reported BBC News.

Residents have also raised concerns over long queues and food shortages at supermarkets on social media platforms. In addition, residents expressed frustration on group chats that empty supermarket shelves would soon force them to eat the community shrubbery, reported The Guardian.

With delivery services overloaded, online purchasing of food has also proved to be difficult, especially for the elderly.

Authorities have said that food supply channels will remain open and medical treatment will be available for those in need. Despite the assurances, residents have complained of lack of access to medical aid.

Cao, who did not want to give his full name, said his father had not been able to access dialysis treatment. “As relatives of patients, we are extremely helpless,” he said.

Videos on social media showed residents protesting at a compound in Shanghai as they complained of low food supplies after being stuck indoors for nearly a month.

Meanwhile, a rap about food shortages called Grocery Shopping has become popular in the city as it draws attention to the empty shelves at stores.

“We chose buying vegetables as the theme, because it is the challenge that sums this outbreak up the most,” one of the song’s artists PJ told Sixth Tone.

“I’ve been to the supermarket to stock up on food many times, and each time I saw people pick the shelves clean. It was even worse than when they buy up groceries before New Year.”

City authorities vowed on Monday that despite the lockdown, normal operation of financial markets will be ensured.

Additional reporting by agencies