
AMN/ WEB DESK
China on Tuesday reported more than 16500 new COVID cases recorded over the previous 24 hours as the country grappled with ever highest new COVID cases, mounting frustration, and new sub-strain BA.1.1. Shanghai, a city of 25 million, currently under a citywide lockdown reported more than 13300 new cases, mainly due to BA.2. The National Health Commission yesterday said that the number of new asymptomatic cases in China stood at 15,355.
China had reported more than 13200 new cases on Monday. With China’s insistence on adhering to its strict “Zero-COVID” strategy, political pressure has been mounting on Shanghai authorities to control the outbreak and address the growing frustration of residents grappling with the costs and inconveniences of the overly strict prevention measures. On Sunday, the ruling Communist Party announced the deployment of thousands of military personnel to the locked-down financial hub to assist in the mandatory testing of all 25 million inhabitants which was finished on Monday. In recent days, more than 38,000 medics have been dispatched to the city, according to state media. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) also deployed more than 2,000 military medical workers to Shanghai on Sunday.
With weeks into lockdown, a sense of helplessness has engulfed the residents of Shanghai. Residents have continued to take to social media outpouring difficulties in accessing goods, including waking up in the early morning hours to place orders for limited supplies. It’s a nightmare for patients suffering from non-COVID diseases not only in Shanghai but also in Changchun, another city in northeastern Jilin province placed under lockdown. People in need of emergency medical help were forced to put their appeals on social media to draw the attention of authorities after they failed to get the medical attention for their relatives. In addition, China’s Covid-19 health code algorithms are adding to the misery in people’s lives and freedoms, leaving some confused and miserable. It is worrisome if the health kit app wrongly flags someone as a virus risk. Officials want to play safe as they do not want to miss any cases because they feel, the risk of going massively overboard is much less than of not doing enough or getting sacked if an outbreak occurs on their watch. Public health measures have often moved into the political realm.
There was huge outrage and public outcry over the isolation policy, which requires all patients who test positive to be isolated in facilities, including young children and babies. It has caused significant levels of distress among parents as a mother of a 2-year-old COVID positive girl raised an alarm on social media that she is receiving little information about her daughter who has been separated from her and sent to the clinic. According to media reports, the mother, who is also a confirmed case of Covid-19, was allowed to stay with her daughter on Monday. At a press conference on Monday, Shanghai officials said that if the parents of infected children are also positive, they can stay together and receive medical observation and treatment, but kids aged under seven are still required to be sent to Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center for pediatric treatment. According to reports, several Shanghai-based EU diplomats sent a letter to the city’s government on 31 March, urging not to separate children from their parents “whatever the circumstances”.
For weeks, the city has been hammered by social and economic dysfunction, with financial workers forced to sleep in their offices, major port delays heaping pressure on supply chains due to land transport disruptions, and locked-down residents left desperately seeking medical care and other basic supplies. City authorities acknowledged shortcomings in their response last week, with Ma Chunlei, secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal people’s government, on Thursday apologizing for not being “sufficiently prepared” for the outbreak. With public frustration continuing to simmer and case numbers yet to fall in Shanghai, and in northern Jilin province, which began more rigorous disease control measures earlier in March, experts say, authorities will need to think carefully about what is sustainable and what is not under the dynamic “Zero-COVID” policy.