(Bloomberg) -- Shanghai’s Covid-19 cases appear to be leveling off following a recent spike, though some residents have been urged to stockpile food and medicines as the fear of returning to lockdown hangs over the city.  

The financial hub reported 55 new infections for Tuesday, compared with 59 on Monday. While daily cases have jumped sharply from single digits last week, they are now holding mostly steady, and the latest were all found in quarantined areas.  

The recent spike follows the detection of the more contagious BA.5 sub-strain of the omicron variant, which has triggered two additional rounds of mass testing between Tuesday and Thursday this week across nine of the financial hub’s 16 districts, as well as other areas where cases have been found. 

Read more: Anger in Shanghai as Covid Return Spurs Fear of New Lockdown 

Two neighborhood committees in Shanghai issued an open letter Monday calling on local residents to stockpile enough food and medical supplies to last 14 days, according to reports carried in media outlets including eastday.com Tuesday night.

That sparked concerns among some in the city that another round of district or citywide lockdowns is imminent. In response to the concerns, a Shanghai government official said the directive was aimed at “stimulating people’s epidemic prevention awareness” following the flareup in cases which has seen a number of residential compounds put under lockdown as a result, according to the report.

China’s strict Covid Zero approach is once again being tested as outbreaks flare across the country amid the arrival of a sub-variant that has fueled rising caseloads elsewhere. Already, close to 30 million people nationwide are under some form of movement restrictions to quell transmission, but authorities have so far steered clear of strict lockdowns in key economic regions.

Read more: Xi’s Covid Authoritarianism Meets Red Line at Vaccine Mandates

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