Pat Benson from nuBridgeRelo in Shanghai has advised that, from Monday 28 March, Shanghai has been locked-down for eight days.

Pat explained that Pudong, the east side of the river, will be locked-down for the first four days and a massive testing programme will be conducted.  Following this, Puxi, the west part of city, will be locked-down for the following four days with everyone also undergoing testing.  Unfortunately, this new wave of lockdowns comes on the back of the previous programme over the last three weeks of rolling district lockdowns and testing, which did little to stem the infection rate.

To curb the spread of infection, access via bridges and tunnels is restricted and bus, metro and ferry services have been suspended.  Shops, businesses and offices have closed and staff have been requested to work remotely from their homes.  Unfortunately, this new city-wide lockdown will impact on customs clearance as the Shanghai bond is closed, and shipping agencies will be working at a reduced level, all of which will cause additional terminal costs.  This lockdown will delay any services that originate from Shanghai, including deliveries and origin services.  Services to other parts of the country via other ports are not affected at this time.

Pat said that all staff at nuBridgeRelo are safe and are working remotely as best they can.  During this time no physical service can be performed, though surveys can and are being conducted via video.  “We are hoping that these new measures will be successful and that restrictions will be lifted by April 5 allowing us to resume normal services,” Pat said. “ We thank you for your support and wishes during this tough time.”