9 million Chinese in lockdown – Coronavirus cases, austerity measures and outrage

Lockdown in Shenyang (northeast), an industrial city with 9 million inhabitants, the Chinese authorities announced today. And this at a time when China faces rise in covid-19 outbreaks due to Omicron variant of coronaviruswhile residents have begun to express their indignation over the measures.

Shenyang, home to several factories, including one from German carmaker BMW, is the capital of Liaoning Province, which borders Jilin, the epicenter of the current wave of the epidemic.

The Chinese Ministry of Health today announced 4,770 new cases of covid-19 nationwide.

In Shanghai, where hundreds of news items are recorded daily casesthe authorities preferred to impose targeted lockdowns on residential buildings rather than a general curfew.

A lockdown has been imposed in Jilin County since last week, with residents of many communities unable to leave and many cities barring people from leaving their homes.

The technology metropolis of Shenzhen, with a population of 17.5 million, announced on Monday the gradual lifting of the strict lockdown, after it had already relaxed the restrictions to avoid serious effects on the operation of the factories and the port.

Thanks to lockdownthe quarantine of those arriving in the country and the monitoring of citizens’ movements, China had almost eliminated the covid-19as broadcast by international agencies and rebroadcast by the Athenian News Agency.

But the zero-tolerance strategy that follows has an impact on the Asian giant’s economy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping last week called for a “minimization” of the effects of the pandemic on the economy, but ruled out a loosening of the strategy by the authorities.

Reactions

But many Chinese are already reacting to the strict measures imposed on them, as are ongoing diagnostic tests.

In Shenyang, many residents started knocking on the windows of clothing stores, shouting indignantly after the announcement of another round of testing for covid-19.

Although the local government very quickly asked the citizens not to “spread rumors” about the incident, the reaction of the internet users was immediate. “Deny quarantine,” one wrote. “Many people woke up and realized the truth,” said another.

“The epidemic is really over,” commented a WeChat user named Jasmine Tea. “The common cold is more serious than that (…) The test companies want this to continue. “Vaccine companies want to vaccinate us forever.”

In the city of Yangzhou, in Hebei Province, where people work in Beijing live, residents find it difficult to return home amid severe lockdowns.

Photographs posted online, many of which have already been deleted, show residents queuing in the snow waiting to be tested in order to leave Beijing. Hundreds of comments were left by internet users under the photos.

In addition, due to travel restrictions, residents and employees are facing financial difficulties.

A courier named Mao, who lives in Changchun City in Jilin Province, said that 90% of the neighborhoods are in lockdown and therefore unable to work.

Residents have also complained about the lack of clarity regarding the rules but also about the resident committees that are responsible for enforcing them.

In Beijing, a family complained that the residents’ committee was preparing to install a surveillance device on the door of its apartment to make sure it would comply with the order to stay home for two weeks.

The order was given after a family member went to the supermarket two days before a positive covid-19 test.

After all, many internet users discuss how lockdowns lead to tragedies.

A post on Weibo last week reported that a patient undergoing chemotherapy at Shanghai Cancer Hospital had died while locked in her home next to the hospital.

In posts that have now been deleted, and others Chinese tell their own respective stories about the death of their loved ones due to the restrictions imposed due to covid-19.

“My dad died of a stroke at the end of last year,” said one. “It simply came to our notice then. “Unfortunately we had to wait for the results of the diagnostic test and we lost the time to be given the best treatment”.

Source: News Beast

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