Empty streets and closed stores were visible across Shanghai on Wednesday amid an ongoing lockdown which has paralyzed several Chinese cities over recent weeks following a spike in COVID-19 cases. Despite a fall in cases, 26 millions people are still under strict lockdown in the metropolis. The lockdown was imposed six weeks ago. 1,289 cases were reported on Tuesday, according to the local health commission. Shanghai officially confirmed more than 500 COVID deaths in the space of a few weeks since new measures were introduced to curb the spread of the virus.