"COVID-19 Lockdown Exit Analysis" 26th Apr 2022
Lockdown Exit
Eid al-Fitr events return to Birmingham after Covid-19 restrictions lifted
Large-scale celebrations at the end of Ramadan are returning to Birmingham after a two-year break caused by the pandemic. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan and fasting. Before Covid-19 restrictions, an event in Birmingham's Small Heath park was among the largest in Europe, regularly attracting more than 60,000 people. It returns at the beginning of May, albeit with a reduced 20,000 capacity, with public health measures in place. Celebrations will also be held at Edgbaston Stadium for the first time. "Eid is a joyous occasion, where Muslims come together to celebrate, spend time with family and worship as a community," project manager Saleem Ahmed said.
Covid-19 data reporting is becoming less frequent, making trends harder to track
Many states are scaling back on how often they report key Covid-19 statistics, a shift that some experts worry might hinder efforts to mitigate outbreaks and negative effects of the coronavirus. A year ago, all 50 states were reporting new Covid-19 cases on a daily basis. But that has gradually trailed off. This week, Pennsylvania will be the latest state to switch from daily to weekly updates, leaving just six states that will still be reporting new Covid-19 cases every day of the week.
About half of states now report just once a week, with Florida down to every two weeks.
Anzac Day: health authorities urge Covid-19 precautions at gatherings
Health officials are urging Australians to take Covid-19 precautions at Anzac Day commemorations despite restrictions easing in most states and territories. With many jurisdictions preparing for the return of full-scale Anzac Day services after two Covid-disrupted years, Victoria’s health department has shared risk-mitigation tips.
It recommends patrons wear a mask when unable to physically distance, particularly in crowds or indoor environments.
Americans back flexible approach on masks, but eager to move on from COVID-Reuters/Ipsos
Most Americans support a flexible approach to the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, with cities reimposing mask mandates when cases surge, even as a growing number are eager to get on with their lives, a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Friday found. The results of the two-day poll illustrate the balancing act facing U.S. officials - particularly President Joe Biden's Democrats - as they navigate a health crisis that will not go away. Sixty-four percent of U.S. adults - including 83% of Democrats and 46% of Republicans - said cities and states should impose mask mandates for indoor public places if there is a resurgence of COVID-19 in their area, the poll found.
OCA confident Asian Games will go ahead in September - official
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has requested an update from Beijing on the COVID-19 situation in China but remains confident the Asian Games will go ahead in Hangzhou in September, a senior official at the body told Reuters on Monday. The 19th edition of the multi-sports Games, second in size only to the Summer Olympics, is scheduled to take place from Sept. 10-25 in the capital of Zhejiang province, some 175 kilometres southwest of Shanghai. A media report last week quoted the OCA's director-general as saying that there was a possibility the Games would have to be postponed because of the month-long COVID-19 lockdown in China's financial capital
Exit Strategies
Covid-19: Karnataka to make wearing masks mandatory again
Karnataka Health Department on Monday said that wearing facemasks is mandatory as a preventive step to control the surge of Covid-19 cases.
Millions of COVID-19 shots set to go to waste, as vaccine rollout slows
While top U.S. health officials are urging some Americans to get yet another coronavirus booster shot, local health departments across the country are grappling with a growing dilemma -- how to address a declining demand for vaccines, while minimizing the waste of unused millions of doses currently in state stockpiles and at risk of expiring. Since the emergency use authorization of the first COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. last winter, federal data shows that states received a staggering 720 million doses, and more than 570 million of those shots have been administered.
Can you use an expired at-home Covid-19 test?
Rapid antigen Covid-19 tests, better known as home tests, have become more common in households across the country as supplies have increased. These tests are designed to give you results in less than 30 minutes from the comfort of your own home. But if you have several boxes of them stored away, perhaps left over from winter's Omicron surge or from the federal program that sends up to eight free tests to US households, you might wonder whether they're safe and accurate to use beyond the expiration date on the package.
Beijing's biggest district begins COVID mass testing
Beijing residents snapped up food and other supplies as the city's biggest district began mass COVID-19 testing of all residents on Monday, prompting fears of a Shanghai-style lockdown after dozens of cases in the capital in recent days. Authorities in Chaoyang, home to 3.45 million people, late on Sunday ordered residents and those who work there to be tested three times this week as Beijing warned the virus had "stealthily" spread in the city for about a week before being detected.
China Covid Shock Sees Beijing Consider Risky Debt Option Again
China has signaled a willingness to allow local governments to increase off-balance sheet debt again after a crackdown in recent years to bring it under control. The People’s Bank of China said last week that banks should meet the “reasonable funding needs” of local government financing vehicles, or LGFVs, and not “blindly” suspend or withdraw loans from the companies. The measures were one of 23 listed by the central bank to help boost lending and support industries battered by Covid outbreaks and lockdowns. While Beijing still remains committed to debt control, the economy’s slump is forcing policy makers to ease up on some restrictions. To bolster growth, local governments have been instructed to boost investment in infrastructure, but since they face a cash crunch because of a property market slump, many will need financial help from LGFVs.
North Korea: COVAX scraps the reclusive country's vaccine allocations
As mask mandates and social distancing requirements lift around the world, North Korea remains one of two countries that have not administered any coronavirus vaccines, with no sign of how it can ever begin to reopen despite a brewing humanitarian crisis for its people. The vaccines that were allocated for North Korea through a United Nations-backed global vaccination effort are no longer available, officials said this month, after Pyongyang repeatedly rejected the initiative’s offers of millions of doses. North Korea, already one of the most closed societies in the world, remains in a strict pandemic lockdown and has shuttered its borders except to a minimal level of trade with China, with grave implications for the health and food security of its population.
WHO backs Paxlovid for high-risk COVID patients
Paxlovid is an oral SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitor called nirmatrelvir that is given with a low dose of the HIV antiviral drug ritonavir, which can boost the level of protease inhibitors. The drug combo is designed to be given at the first sign of illness and is taken twice a day for 5 days. In December, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the drug for emergency use. In a statement, the WHO said it based the recommendation on new data from two randomized controlled trials that included 3,078 patients, which suggested that Paxlovid can cut the risk of hospitalization by 85% among high-risk groups. The WHO said its recommendation applies to those who are at highest risk for severe disease, such as those who are unvaccinated, older, or immunocompromised. It added that data showed benefits were negligible in lower-risk patients. However, the WHO aired concerns about two obstacles for rollout of the drug to low- and middle-income countries. One is access to early testing and diagnosis, since the drug needs to be given in the earlier stages of infection. The WHO pointed to data that suggest average daily testing rates in lower-income countries are one-eightieth that of higher-income countries.
Partisan Exits
Nolan 'did not communicate Covid-19 models as well as necessary' to ministers
A public health expert has said he did not communicate the Covid-19 models “as well as was necessary” to Government ministers, weeks before Ireland had the world’s highest incidence of cases. Professor Philip Nolan, who was a key member of the advisory group assisting the Government in the battle against Covid, made the comments at the University of Limerick on Monday. The former head of National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) modelling said that as health experts, “we need to be better at communicating the range of possibilities and uncertainties”.
China Covid-19 tsar pushed treatments without revealing business ties
One of China’s top government health officials has repeatedly promoted Covid-19 remedies included in Beijing’s official treatment protocol for the disease without disclosing his links with the manufacturers. Epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan was appointed to head an expert group at the National Health Commission, the body responsible for formulating China’s health policy, at the start of the pandemic and is considered a hero in the country after managing the Sars epidemic in 2003. The NHC publishes an official protocol that advises on Covid treatments and medicines that is regarded as the treatment “bible” by doctors and local governments across China, according to Jin Dong-Yan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong. But Zhong has close ties to the companies behind some of the treatments, which he has promoted in scientific journals and in public talks without mentioning these relationships.
Lockdown gatherings report is 'excoriating' for UK's Johnson-The Times
An independent report into lockdown gatherings held at Boris Johnson's Downing Street office and residence is "excoriating" for the British prime minister and will make things "incredibly difficult" for him, the Times said. Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, has been tasked with investigating the events and whether they broke lockdown rules set by Johnson. The publication of her report has been put on hold until the police complete their own inquiry.
Continued Lockdown
Shanghai erects metal barriers in fight against COVID-19
Volunteers and low-level government workers in Shanghai have erected metal barriers in multiple districts to block off small streets and entrances to apartment complexes, as China hardens its strict “zero-COVID” approach in the metropolis. In the city's financial district, Pudong, the barriers — either thin metal sheets or mesh fences — were put up in several neighborhoods under a local government directive, according to Caixin, a Chinese business media outlet. Buildings where positive cases have been found sealed up their main entrances, with a small opening for pandemic prevention workers to pass through. China reported 21,796 new community-transmitted COVID-19 infections on Sunday, with the vast majority being asymptomatic cases in Shanghai. Across the country, many cities and provinces have enforced some version of a lockdown in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.
Shanghai's COVID lockdown drags into 4th week, fears flicker Beijing could be next
Shanghai fences up COVID-hit areas, fuelling fresh outcry By Investing.com UKShanghai further tightens Covid restrictions after weeks of strict lockdownThe GuardianNerves Fray, Frustration Grows in Shanghai's Lockdown PurgatoryU.S. News & World ReportNerves fray, frustration grows in Shanghai's COVID-19 lockdown purgatoryCNAView Full coverage on Google News
Shanghai's Covid Experience May Affect How the Rest of China Sees the Pandemic
In recent days, the censorship machine within WeChat has come out. Last weekend, its biggest guns were aimed at a short six-minute clip called the “Voices of April.” It was a simple video showing the city skyline, with audio snippets of officials’ comments at press conferences and residents’ pleas for help. It seems to have touched on a sore subject: the overstretched Shanghai public health system. However, it was not something so sensational it deserved instantaneous censorship. When my friends tried to circumvent WeChat’s censor and share the video via various cloud services, their links were quickly blocked. By Saturday afternoon, people became so frustrated they started posting the song “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from the musical Les Miserables. That got censored, too.
But the word was out. And it matters that it is out in Shanghai. The city is not Xian, or northeastern Jilin province where local governments could just bury discontent. Shanghai is China’s commercial and cultural hub; its 25 million residents include native Shanghainese and more than 10 million from all over China. These are constantly in touch with their hometowns.
What Shanghai Is Going Through Is News to Many in the Rest of China
For weeks, Shanghai has made international headlines as a Covid-19 outbreak has forced the city’s 25 million residents to lock down in their homes, many in severe distress over how to get food and medical care. Yet in the rest of China, it is easy to get the impression that nothing out of the ordinary is going on in Shanghai. If viewed through the lens of state media, Shanghai authorities are delivering food packages and ensuring everyone’s well-being with few glitches. There is little in authorities’ statements to signal a crisis. Official narratives have framed Shanghai residents’ resilience and resourcefulness in securing essentials—often through grass roots efforts like group-buying and bartering—as examples of positive energy.
Effect of nations' COVID restrictions on mental health varied by type, group
An international team led by a Simon Fraser University researcher in Canada assessed the stringency of daily public health policies using the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker and psychological distress and life evaluations using the Imperial College London-YouGov COVID 19 Behaviour Tracker Global Survey. Respondents from 15 countries were tracked from Apr 27, 2020, to Jun 28, 2021, when most participants weren't fully vaccinated. They completed the four-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) and the single-question Cantril Ladder every 2 weeks. Included countries were Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The researchers also studied a subset of the Nordic countries, with Sweden following a mitigation strategy, and Denmark, Finland, and Norway adopting an elimination approach. Australia, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea pursued a COVID-elimination strategy, while the remainder took a mitigation approach.
Scientific Viewpoint
Nine Omicron symptoms affecting fully vaccinated — and two early signs you might have it
China has put nearly 30 million people under strict lockdown measures as the country recorded a steep rise in new coronavirus infections, which have hit a two-year high. The country has taken some of the most drastic measures since the start of the pandemic, even though its caseload is low compared with other major countries because it has tethered itself tightly to a “zero-Covid” strategy. The latest increase is due to Omicron, reported to be the dominant variant. First detected in Southern Africa and Hong Kong in November 2021, Omicron was soon confirmed as the dominant variant in the UK in December.
Vaccines may have prevented 234,000 COVID-19 deaths in the US
Approximately 234,000 COVID-19 deaths in the United States could have been prevented since June with vaccines, according to a data analysis by Health System Tracker. Vaccines became available for free to all adults in the US in May of last year, and Health System Tacker estimated that by June, they could have all been fully vaccinated. The analysis took all adult COVID deaths from June 2021 to March 2022. Children's deaths were excluded because vaccines were made available to them later than adults and not for all children at once.
World's Biggest Vaccine Maker Serum Halts Production Over Millions of Unused Doses
Serum Institute of India Ltd., the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer and a key supplier of Covid-19 inoculations to developing countries, has stopped making fresh batches of shots after its stockpile grew to 200 million doses amid a global supply glut. “We have got 200 million doses of stock. We had to shut down production in December,” Serum’s chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla said at the India Economic Conclave organized by Times Network on Friday, saying he was worried about wastage if the shots expired. “I have even offered to give free donations to whoever wanted to take it.”
Vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 infection and related hospitalization
In the present study, the researchers estimated the effectiveness of two and three doses of COVID-19 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variant infection and related hospitalization. The study population comprised Denmark residents aged 12 years or older in a time period where either the Alpha, Delta, or Omicron variants were dominant. The team included only the first SARS-CoV-2 positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test of a participant. They obtained information on all laboratory-confirmed positive reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) results from the Danish microbiology database (MiBa). COVID-19-related hospitalization was defined as a new hospital admission lasting at least 12 hours, occurring within two days prior to or 14 days after the diagnosis with either the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha, Delta, or Omicron variant infection.
The quest for a universal coronavirus vaccine
As vaccine makers rush to stamp out new Covid-19 variants, some scientists have set their sights higher, aiming for a universal coronavirus vaccine that could tackle any future strains and possibly even stave off another pandemic. Since the race for a first Covid jab supercharged a new generation of vaccine technology, there have been numerous efforts to develop pan-coronavirus immunisation. Drew Weissman of the University of Pennsylvania, who was a pioneer of the mRNA technology used in Pfizer's Covid vaccine, is leading one such project. He said the problem with updating current vaccines to target all existing strains -- a plan announced by Pfizer earlier this month -- is that "new variants are going to appear every three or six months".
What science journalism can't tell us about Covid-19 deaths
In the first piece of science journalism I ever wrote, I compared deciphering the effects of climate change to baking a cake. I was a college sophomore. This was homework. We were to read a study and then find an analogy for it, transforming what we found dizzying and technical into something easily imaginable. In my hands, an existential threat became dessert. I don’t remember exactly why I thought that computer models showing possible futures for an ocean inlet were best conveyed through recipes and increments of butter. But I do remember what (I think) the professor wanted us to remember: When an idea is hard to grasp — too big, too small, too abstruse, too abstract — liken it to something else. It’s so fundamental it’s almost a cliché, so prevalent it’s almost unnoticeable. We describe genes as blueprints, receptors and viruses as locks and keys. We take the measure of galaxies in celestial football fields.
Unvaccinated people increase risk of COVID-19 infection among vaccinated: new study
Even with high immunization rates, unvaccinated people threaten the safety of people vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, suggests a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. “We’ve really tended to forget that we’re in a pandemic of a communicable disease, which means that our actions affect those around us,” Dr. David Fisman, the study’s coauthor and professor of epidemiology at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, told Global News.
Only 29% of UK Covid hospital patients recover within a year
Fewer than one in three people who have been hospitalised with Covid-19 have fully recovered a year after they succumbed to infection. That is the shock finding of a survey into the impact of long Covid in the UK. The team of scientists and doctors at Leicester University also found that women had poorer recovery rates than men after hospitalisation, while obesity was also likely to hinder a person’s prospects of health improvements. Among the symptoms reported by patients a year after their initial infection were fatigue, muscle pain, poor sleep and breathlessness. “Given that more than 750,000 people have been hospitalised in the UK with Covid-19 over the past two years, it is clear from our research that the legacy of this disease is going to be huge,” said Rachael Evans, one of the study’s authors.
Regulator asks Valneva for more information on its COVID vaccine candidate
French drugmaker Valneva said on Monday that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had asked for more data on its COVID-19 vaccine, precipitating a sharp fall in its shares. The latest EMA setback comes after Britain earlier this month cleared the use of Valneva's vaccine, becoming the first European country to give its shot the green light. Valneva said the EMA Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) had a fresh list of questions, including requests for additional data and for further justification of a conditional marketing authorisation for the vaccine.
"We are disappointed that the EMA has not considered our submissions sufficient to date. We remain fully committed and dedicated to working jointly with the regulators towards a product approval," Valneva CEO Thomas Lingelbach said in a statement. Valneva's share price slumped about 15.5%, putting the stock on track for its worst day since Jan. 4.
Japan's Shionogi says COVID-19 pill shows rapid clearance of virus
An experimental treatment from Shionogi & Co Ltd has shown rapid clearance of the virus that causes COVID-19, according to new data, the Japanese drug maker said on Sunday. The pill, S-217622, "demonstrated rapid clearance of the infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus", Shionogi said in a statement, citing Phase-2b results from the Phase II/III clinical trial of the drug. The company has global aspirations for the antiviral pill, which is now being evaluated by Japanese regulators.
Roche sees slowdown in COVID-driven sales growth
Roche's first-quarter sales rose 10% on strong U.S. demand for rapid COVID-19 antigen tests and specialty drugs but the Swiss drugmaker reaffirmed that a drop in pandemic-related demand would put the brakes on growth. Chief Executive Severin Schwan predicted much lower COVID related sales, mainly from tests and antibody treatment Ronapreve, from now on. "There is of course a scenario where there is an upside in the winter season, depending on how COVID-19 will develop but that is not our planning scenario," he said on a call with reporters on Monday.
Gilead touts analysis showing COVID antiviral Veklury performs best when given early in illness
Coming off a World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation for the use of Veklury in non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients, Gilead Sciences is touting real-world evidence that could help expand the WHO endorsement to those who are hospitalized with a severe infection. While the FDA approved the infused antiviral for emergency use in patients with severe COVID in October of 2020 and more than 40 other countries have done the same, the WHO has not followed suit in a key area where options are limited. But a look at the Premier Healthcare Database of 853,219 patients hospitalized in the U.S. for COVID suggests the increased use of Veklury has helped improve outcomes.
COVID shots still work but researchers hunt new improvements
COVID-19 vaccinations are at a critical juncture as companies test whether new approaches like combination shots or nasal drops can keep up with a mutating coronavirus — even though it’s not clear if changes are needed. Already there’s public confusion about who should get a second booster now and who can wait. There’s also debate about whether pretty much everyone might need an extra dose in the fall. “I’m very concerned about booster fatigue” causing a loss of confidence in vaccines that still offer very strong protection against COVID-19’s worst outcomes, said Dr. Beth Bell of the University of Washington, an adviser to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
COVID-19 third leading cause of death in US in 2021
COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States last year, and deaths from COVID-19 increased by 1% in 2021 over 2020, according to new data from the National Vital Statistics System released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Only heart disease and cancer killed more Americans than COVID-19, with provisional death tolls from each cause totaling 693,000, 605,000, and 415,000, respectively. Those were also the three leading killers in 2020.
Coronavirus Resurgence
Vietnam reports 7,417 new Covid-19 cases and confirms all are domestic cases on Monday (April 25)
Vietnam reported 7,417 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, down 1,395 from Sunday, according to its Ministry of Health. The new infections, recorded in 60 provinces and cities, were all domestically transmitted. The Vietnamese capital Hanoi remained the epidemic hotspot with 941 cases on Monday, followed by the northern provinces of Phu Tho with 493 and Quang Ninh with 411. Also on Monday, local health authorities of northern Vietnam's Bac Giang province reported 853 previously detected Covid-19 cases. The infections brought the total tally to 10,571,772 with 43,021 deaths.
Italy reports 56263 new coronavirus cases, 79 deaths
Italy reported 56,263 new COVID-19 related cases on Sunday, against 70,520 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily number of deaths fell to 79 from 143. Italy has registered 162,688 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth highest in the world. The country has reported 16.1 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 9,895 on Sunday, down from 9,914 a day earlier.
Shanghai reports 51 COVID-related deaths for April 24, up from 39 a day earlier
Chinese financial hub Shanghai reported 51 new deaths among its COVID-19 patients on April 24, up from 39 the day before, the local government said on Monday. The city also recorded 16,983 new local asymptomatic coronavirus cases, down from 19,657 a day earlier. The number of confirmed symptomatic infections stood at 2,472, up from 1,401 the previous day. Shanghai is currently battling China's biggest-ever COVID-19 outbreak.
Shanghai Reports Record Daily Covid Deaths in Current Outbreak
Shanghai reported its highest number of daily Covid-19 deaths in the current outbreak, as China continues to stick to its Covid Zero policy with strict lockdown measures imposed in the city. The city recorded 39 fatalities for Saturday, bringing its total number of virus-related deaths to 87 since late February, according to a report on Sunday by the Shanghai Health Commission. The average age of the people who died was 78.7 and all had underlying diseases, according to the report.
Shanghai logged 21,058 new local Covid infections, the vast majority of which were mild or asymptomatic cases, the commission said. The previous day, the city reported 23,370 new local cases and 12 deaths.
Malaysia reports 4,006 new Covid-19 infections, eight new deaths
Malaysia reported 4,006 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Sunday, bringing the national total to 4,431,073, according to the health ministry. There are seven new imported cases and 3,999 local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed. A further eight deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 35,499. The ministry reported 10,223 new recoveries, bringing the total number
New Lockdown
Panic buying in Beijing as district starts mass COVID testing
Beijing residents snapped up food and other supplies as the city's biggest district began mass COVID-19 testing of all residents on Monday, prompting fears of a Shanghai-style lockdown after dozens of cases in the capital in recent days. Authorities in Chaoyang, home to 3.45 million people, late on Sunday ordered residents and those who work there to be tested three times this week as Beijing warned the virus had "stealthily" spread in the city for about a week before being detected.
China's Spreading Outbreak Stokes Fear of Beijing Lockdown
China expanded coronavirus testing to most of Beijing as rising cases fuel fears about an unprecedented lockdown of the capital, with policy makers racing to avert a Shanghai-style crisis that’s already wrought havoc on the financial hub. Officials on Monday night said testing would take place in another 11 of Beijing’s 16 districts, moving beyond just Chaoyang, where most of the infections have been detected since Friday. “Through a suite of appropriately tough measures we are confident and capable of controlling the outbreak,” said municipal government spokesman Xu Hejian at a briefing held on late Monday. Worries that the country’s strict adherence to Covid Zero will further damage the economy dragged down stocks to oil and iron ore on Monday. It’s also sparked a bout of panic buying as Beijing residents -- fearful of being caught unprepared in the event of a citywide shutdown-- rushed to stock up on food and other supplies after the government announced mass testing plans and put some areas under lockdown.
Beijing locks down some areas as COVID-19 cases mount
Beijing will conduct mass testing of most of its 21 million people, authorities announced Monday, as a new COVID-19 outbreak sparked stockpiling of food by residents worried about the possibility of a Shanghai-style lockdown. The Chinese capital began mass testing people in one of its 16 districts where most of the new cases have been found. The city also imposed lockdowns on individual residential buildings and one section of the city. Late in the day, health officials said the testing would be expanded Tuesday to all but five outlying districts. While only 70 cases have been found since the outbreak surfaced Friday, authorities have rolled out strict measures under China’s “zero-COVID” approach to try to prevent a further spread of the virus. Some residents worked from home and many stocked up on food as a safeguard against the possibility that they could be confined indoors, as has happened in multiple cities, including the financial hub of Shanghai.