Shanghai: To curb the Omicron-fuelled COVID-19 outbreak, Shanghai will launch a phased lockdown.

China has reportedly been hit with its highest COVID-19 caseloads since the early days of the pandemic.

The government said that Shanghai will lock down its eastern half for five days of testing beginning on Monday.

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This will be followed by a similar lockdown of its western side beginning on April 1.

Shanghai in the past few days turned into a COVID-19 hotspot.

The cases started to rise early in March.

On Sunday, China’s National Health Commission reported more than 4,500 new domestically transmitted cases.

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Shanghai has decided to avoid a full-fledged lockdown and will keep the eastern Chinese port and financial hub running.

This has been decided for “the good of both the national and global economies”.