The city's vice mayor said on Sunday that the Chinese financial and manufacturing hub of Shanghai will gradually begin reopening businesses such as shopping malls and hair salons after weeks in a strict COVID 19 lockdown.
Vice Mayor Chen Tong said shopping malls, department stores, and supermarkets will begin resuming their in-store operations, which will allow customers to shop in an orderly way while hair salons and vegetable markets will reopen with limited capacity, but gave no specifics on the pace or extent of such reopenings.
Normal shopping on online platforms has been suspended during Shanghai's lock down, with residents limited to purchasing necessities.
A city official said that Shanghai will soon announce a third white list of more than 820 companies engaged in import and export that can resume operations.
Shanghai reported 1,203 new local asymptomatic coronaviruses cases for May 14, down from 1,487 a day earlier in the day. The data released on Sunday showed that 166 confirmed symptomatic cases fell from 194 the previous day.
There were no cases found outside quarantined areas after one had been reported a day earlier. The city reported three new COVID 19 related deaths, compared to one a day earlier in the day.