Shanghai eased restrictions on some neighbourhoods on April 11 after mounting outcry over inflexible Covid-19 rules that have locked down 25 million people, caused food shortages and left thousands in quarantine.

Authorities said they would gradually begin to allow those in areas with the least number of virus cases to leave their communities, although it was unclear how many people will be allowed out of their homes or when.

Officials said they would categorise communities across the city into three levels based on the number of infections.

“Differentiated prevention and control [measures]” would reflect the “actual circumstances” on the ground, Shanghai official Gu Honghui said on April 11.

Those in “closed control areas” or “controlled management areas” would continue to be locked down in their homes or limited to their compounds.

Residential communities which have recorded no cases in the past 14 days will allow residents to leave their homes.