Shanghai vows to ease anti-virus controls amid food worries

By JOE McDONALD
Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — Officials in Shanghai have promised to ease anti-virus controls on truck drivers that are hampering food supplies and trade, while city streets are still largely empty after millions of people were allowed out of their homes. A deputy mayor promised “every effort” to resolve problems that prompted complaints about lack of access to food and fears that the shutdown, which barred most of Shanghai’s 25 million people from going outdoors, might disrupt global trade. An official said Shanghai will forgive rent for six months for some 80,000 small enterprises in government-owned buildings.