Photo: BO KELIN/HPIC/DPA/PICTURE ALLIANCE / Deutsche Welle
Shanghai government volunteers and workers erected metal barriers in several districts to block small streets and entrances to apartment complexes, as China tightens its strict “zero-COVID” approach in its largest city, despite growing complaints from residents.
In the city’s financial district, Pudong, barriers –thin metal sheets or mesh fences – were put up in several neighborhoods under a local government directive, according to Caixin, a Chinese business media outlet. The buildings in which cases have been detected have sealed their main entrances, with a small opening for pandemic prevention workers to pass through.
“This is disrespectful to the rights of the people inside, using metal barriers to lock them up like pets,” said a user on the Weibo social media platform.
A video showed residents yelling at workers putting up the fences from their balconies, which then gave way and were taken away. Other videos showed people trying to break down the fences.
“Isn’t this a fire hazard?” said another Weibo user.
China reported on Sunday (24.04.2022) from 21.796 new infections of COVID-19 transmitted by the community, with the vast majority of cases being asymptomatic in Shanghai. Across the country, many cities and provinces have implemented some version of lockdowns in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.
Ómicron expands in Shanghai 61611996
The latest outbreak, driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, has spread across the country, but has been especially large in Shanghai. The city, a financial center with 25 million residents, has counted hundreds of thousands of cases, but fewer than 100 deaths since the outbreak began nearly two months ago.
Videos of the new barriers being put up on Saturday were posted on social media, with some expressing anger at the measures. The barriers are intended to leave main roads unblocked, Caixin reported.
In a video, verified by AP, residents leaving a building in Shanghai’s Xuhui district broke down the mesh barricade at their entrance and searched for the security guard they believed responsible for placing them.
Most of the barriers seemed to have been erected around the enclosures designated as “sealed areas”, which are buildings in which at least one person has tested positive for COVID-19 and, therefore, whose residents are prohibited from leaving their doors.
Staging system in neighborhoods in Shanghai
Shanghai uses a tiered system in which neighborhoods are divided into three categories based on transmission risk. Those in the first category face the most stringent COVID controls-19 and were the main objective of the new reinforced measures. In the third category, some buildings allow people to leave their homes and visit public areas.
In Shanghai, the authorities reported 39 new deaths from COVID-19, which brings the official death toll to 4.725 until the end of Saturday, as reported on Sunday by the National Health Commission.
Worldwide attention for strict approach
The city blockade has attracted worldwide attention for its strict approach and its sometimes dangerous consequences. Many city residents have had difficulty obtaining food, resorting to bartering and buying in bulk. Others have not been able to receive proper medical care in time due to strict traffic controls.
On Friday, Chinese netizens shared a video of six minutes called “Voices of April” that documents some of the most difficult public moments that the city has experienced in the closure of almost a month. In one part, residents of a Shanghai community who protested on April 8 are heard shouting, “Send us food! Send us food! Send us food!” in unison.
The video spread across WeChat timelines before it was abruptly removed by censors on Saturday.
The Chinese authorities have continued to assert that the “zero-COVID” strategy is the best way forward, given the low vaccination rates in people older than 60 years, and that the expansion of omicron would lead to many deaths and serious illnesses if the country ended its strict approach.
FEW ( AP, Reuters)