The authorities of Shanghai, which is located in the eastern part of China, decided to close the city from March 28 due to a sharp increase in the number of coronavirus infections, Xinhua reports.

The administration will alternately close the southern, eastern and western parts of the city to test local residents for the coronavirus. At the same time, the entire population was obliged to observe strict quarantine. Almost 25 million people lived in Shanghai, according to the 2020 census.

At the first stage (from 5:00 on March 28 (00:00 Moscow time) to April 1), the areas located to the east and south of the Huangpu River will be closed. On the second, starting from 03:00 on April 1 to 03:00 on April 5 (22:00 Moscow time on March 31 and April 4, respectively), it will not be possible to violate self-isolation in areas west of this river.