Shanghai cautiously moved forward with efforts to restore a portion of its transportation network on Saturday as a critical step toward exiting a weeks-long COVID-19 lockdown, as Beijing maintained its defenses against a month-long outbreak.

Since April, Shanghai's lockout has caused a severe economic hit to China's most populated metropolis, sparked discussion over the nation's zero-COVID policy, and fueled fears of future lockdowns and disruptions.

Unlike the financial capital, Beijing has not instituted a citywide lockdown, reporting dozens of new instances each day compared to tens of thousands in Shanghai at its peak. Nonetheless, the restrictions and continual mass testing imposed on China's capital have disrupted its economy and people's lives.

On Saturday, workers in Shanghai disinfected subway stations and trains in preparation for Sunday's scheduled reopening of four metro lines as Beijing continued to experience COVID-related anxiety.

Even though operating hours will be limited, inhabitants will be able to move between areas and link to train terminals and one of the city's two airports. Additionally, almost 200 bus routes will restart.

Shanghai officials stated that commuters will be screened for abnormally high body temperatures and would be required to present negative PCR test results within 48 hours.

On Friday, Shanghai discovered 868 new local cases, compared to 858 the previous day, municipal health officials reported on Saturday, a far cry from last month's peak daily caseloads.

No new cases were discovered outside of restricted regions, which decreased the previous day's three cases.

The city of 25 million has progressively reopened shopping malls, convenience stores, and wholesale marketplaces and recently permitted more individuals to leave their houses since community transmissions have mainly been abolished.

Still, Shanghai increased restrictions in two of its sixteen districts on Friday. On Saturday, a third central Shanghai area tightened rules on its people and companies.

A representative from the city's emergency office stated at a news conference on Saturday that authorities "urge enterprises to strictly implement safe production, which is their responsibility, especially in meeting some epidemic prevention and control requirements,"

Delta Airlines said on Friday that it would restore daily service between Shanghai and Detroit through Seoul beginning on Wednesday.

Drawing comparisons 

Most of Beijing's recent occurrences have occurred in sealed-off locations, but police remained vigilant and swift to act per China's ultra-strict policies.

Since Friday, most bus and metro stations in Fengtai, a two million-person district in the epicenter of Beijing's anti-COVID activities, have been closed, and residents have been told to stay home.

Saturday, a Fengtai resident stocked up on goods at a nearby Carrefour, unsure if restrictions would remain.

"I'm not sure if I can do more shopping over the next week or so, so I've bought a lot of stuff today and even bought some dumplings for the Dragon Boat holiday" in early June, she requested anonymity.

According to the state-run China Youth Daily, thousands of inhabitants from a neighborhood in Chaoyang, the most populous district in Beijing, were placed into hotel quarantine.

Social media users on China's equivalent to Twitter, and Weibo, were quick to draw parallels with Shanghai. In some instances, entire residential buildings were placed in centralized quarantine facilities in response to a single positive COVID case.

While unsubstantiated tales from Nanxinyuan residents gathered hundreds of comments and shares on Weibo, a related hashtag was not searchable on Saturday, indicating online suppression.

"Possibly... save for the people of Shanghai, no one will care about Beijing's Nanxinyuan. However, I am uncertain as to whether anyone will truly read this line "Director and actor Xie Tiantian of Shanghai wrote on Weibo.

Sun Shuwei, an employee of a technology startup, told Reuters that the situation in Nanxinyuan, which is only 2 kilometers from his home, has caused him to consider leaving Beijing.

Sun stated, "This has left me very agitated,"