SHANGHAI/HONG KONG -- As Shanghai's COVID-19 infections soared last month, a local official explained why shutting the city down was not an option.
"No, Shanghai cannot undergo a full lockdown," Wu Fan, a member of the city's COVID expert team, said on March 26. "Why not? Because Shanghai is not only for the locals. It also plays an important role in national economic and social development, and even affects the global economy," she insisted.
