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Daily life in Shanghai, China’s business capital, came to a standstill on Friday following a government shutdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in 26 million cities, although infections fell for the second day in a row.

The city government extended restrictions on use in the eastern neighborhoods late Thursday and closed the western areas as planned.

According to official guidelines, many city dwellers are advised to stay in their homes as long as necessary to control the spread of the disease, and residents are advised not to leave their homes, litter or even remove stray dogs.

Public transport services were suspended in most parts of the city, while non-essential businesses such as restaurants and shopping malls were closed.

The closure, which aims to combat the spread of the highly contagious Omigran strain, was scheduled to begin on Monday and last for ten days initially.

Most of the city’s neighborhoods are currently locked, including the administrative towers in the Lujiazui finance district and factories, including a joint venture between Volkswagen and SAIC Motor and American automaker Tesla.

Authorities announced Friday that the number of daily injuries has dropped for the second day in a row, with the city reporting 4,144 local cases without symptoms, and yesterday showing 358 symptoms, up from 5,298 and 355 the previous day.

Shanghai said it had kept its airports open, but several flights were canceled.

On Friday, only one flight took off from Hong Xiao Airport, focusing on domestic flights, departing from Shanghai to the capital Beijing at 11 a.m., according to the website Flight Flight, which provides flight data.