Shanghai - China's commercial capital, warned on Wednesday that anyone who violates COVID-19 lockdown rules will be dealt with strictly, while tally of new cases rose to more than 25,000.

The financial hub is under huge pressure to contain China's biggest COVID outbreak since the coronavirus was first discovered in the city of Wuhan.

Shanghai police also warned increasingly frustrated residents, millions of whom are confined to their homes and struggling to get daily supplies, not to spread false information or forge road passes or other clearance certificates.

Police also banned cars from the streets except for those involved in epidemic prevention or transporting people in need of emergency medical treatment.

The lockdown entering into the third week, has led to frustration among residents in Shanghai about running out of food and being unable to get deliveries. Censors have diligently taken off such material from social media, while state-controlled outlets describe a successful campaign to provide food and other supplies and counseled residents that “persistence is victory.”

The city’s health bureau released 6,044 people from the central facilities where they were under medical observation to guard against the coronavirus, the government said Wednesday.

Shanghai reported 25,141 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases for Tuesday, up from 22,348 a day earlier, and symptomatic cases also jumped to 1,189 from 994, city authorities said.

Shanghai's COVID measures, which reflect China's strict "zero-COVID" approach aimed at eliminating transmission chains, have reverberated through the global economy, with analysts warning they were not only hurting tourism and hospitality but also having an impact on supply chains across sectors.
-Reuters/AP