on newsday. millions of people in eastern shanghai have spent the day sealed in their homes waiting to be tested as the authorities try to stamp out a worsening covid outbreak. in the western half of the city, people cleared shops and markets of supplies as they stocked up before their lockdown. shanghai is a key financial and manufacturing hub — and lockdown is being imposed in two halves as authorities carry out covid—19 testing. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell reports. panic buying led to fights, as shanghai's 25 million residents prepared to go into lockdown. from today, the east side of the financial capital is a ghost town. the west side will follow on friday. across china, the daily covid tests are mostly orderly, but at times chaotic. in the third year of this crisis, the government's complete elimination strategy is under huge strain, with signs of pandemic exhaustion. those who break the rules are being taken away by the police. some are forced to make public confessions. here, a woman pleads to be allowed to leave home so her husband can receive urgent cancer treatment.