“We are not killed by Covid, but by the Covid control measures,” noted one popular comment on the highly censored Chinese social media platform Weibo. Another Shanghai resident died after suffering a medical emergency in his home before being able to reach the hospital.
In China's 'zero-Covid' lockdowns, patients with other diseases are struggling to surviveĪnger swelled last month after an off-duty nurse in Shanghai died, after being turned away from an emergency ward at her own hospital that was closed for disinfection. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images Workers from a public service organization wearing protective gear deliver vegetables to residents of a neighborhood in lockdown, in Jing'an district, in Shanghai on March 29, 2022. To enforce these measures and meet the demands of the entire locked-down population, more than 30,000 medics and 2,000 military workers have been dispatched to the city, according to state media and the People’s Liberation Army.īut the restrictions have also seen a rare surge of public frustration and criticism toward the government, with residents describing challenges accessing basic supplies like food or medicine. The mandatory citywide testing detected a surge in cases, officials said – prompting them to extend the lockdown until further notice. Shanghai’s measures have been expanded and prolonged as the situation deteriorated.Īfter denying for days that it had any plans for a citywide lockdown, the government announced on March 27 it would launch a staggered lockdown, first targeting one half of the city, then the other half.īy March 31, the government had abandoned its staggered approach, effectively imposing a citywide lockdown for all 25 million residents who were forbidden from leaving their neighborhoods except to get tested. So far, only two Covid deaths have been officially reported during this wave, both coming from Jilin in March. Many of those lockdowns eased by early April – leaving Shanghai the outlier, as authorities struggle to get its cases under control.
Several cities, collectively home to more than 37 million residents, were placed under varying levels of lockdown in March. 90% of all cases identified in March came from Jilin and Shanghai, the two largest hotspots. In early March, cases began rising in several provinces around the country including Shandong in the east, Guangdong in the south, and Jilin in the northeast.īy the end of the month, the virus had spread to 29 of China’s 31 provinces, according to the National Health Commission (NHC). Here’s what you need to know about the latest outbreak.Ī worker stands in the middle of empty streets, in locked-down Shanghai on April 4. The sustainability of that policy is now under question, as newer, highly infectious Covid variants continue to spread throughout the population. Though this number is still far lower than in many other countries, it’s a dramatic spike for China, which has adhered to a strict zero-Covid strategy that aims to stamp out all outbreaks and chains of transmission using border controls, mass testing, quarantines and stringent lockdowns. On Wednesday, the country recorded close to 20,000 new cases – far past the peak of Wuhan in 2020, at the onset of the pandemic. All 25 million residents are under lockdown, with national health care workers and the Chinese military dispatched to boost the city’s response. Since March, China has battled its biggest Covid wave yet, with Shanghai now the largest hotspot. And public anger is mounting, with no end in sight as China clamps down.
Parents have been forcibly separated from young children infected with Covid-19. Millions of people across China’s locked-down financial hub of Shanghai have been desperately seeking medical care and basic supplies like food.
0 kommentar(er)
