World News for Students of English

05-04-2022 07:00

China’s most populous city tightened the first stage of a two-stage lockdown, and officials asked residents to stay indoors. China’s financial hub is in one of its longest lockdowns, and two years since the start of the pandemic, streets are empty again.

The 25-million city closed bridges and tunnels which split the city in two along the Huangpu River.  Residents living on the river’s eastern bank had to stay at home for four days, and on the western bank, lockdown started four days later.  Officials earlier attempted to keep the city running by limiting lockdowns to certain neighborhoods or buildings; however, the city struggled to control new cases. Some residents were surprised by the restrictions, and they woke up to find a fence around their compounds.

The lockdown came at the time when the city was battling a surge in Omicron cases, which had been challenging China’s zero-COVID strategy.

Difficult words: hub (the center of an activity), compound (a group of buildings), surge (a sudden increase).

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