Shanghai today announced that it has reached “zero Covid” in all its regions, prompting sarcastic comments on social media while millions of residents in China’s major cities are still subject to lockdowns.

In the face of the biggest Covid outbreak since it began, Chinese authorities imposed strict restrictions on the city’s population of 25 million in early April. China is still the last major economic power to close in the world.

The government’s push to eliminate the Omicron mutant outbreak sparked rare demonstrations and clashes with authorities at a time when Shanghai residents refused to subject them to long periods of food shortages.

Shanghai Health Commissioner Zhao Dandan said today, “All 16 regions of Shanghai have achieved zero Covid-19 at the community level.”

This means that none of the 1,000 new infections reported today have been identified outside the quarantine zones, according to city officials.

Vice Mayor Chen Tong said Sunday that the city will gradually resume commercial activity starting this week, without providing details.

But millions of Shanghai residents are still stuck in their housing.

More than 3.8 million people are officially still under the city’s toughest lockout method, according to official figures.

A live broadcast aired on Chinese media today showed crowds gathered at Shanghai’s Hongqiao railway station as trains leaving the city resumed operations.

Meanwhile, several airlines resumed their domestic flights from Shanghai this week after almost all outbound flights to the city were suspended during the epidemic.

Residents are only allowed to leave Shanghai after they receive permission and pass certain tests for COVID-19.