An official statement Friday did not elaborate on the allegations against the three officials, but said their failure to fulfill their duties in preventing and controlling the epidemic had allowed the virus to spread, leading to “serious repercussions” on control efforts. epidemic. Shanghai reported more than 21,000 new local cases on Friday, of which only 824 had symptoms. The total number of cases of the epidemic that started last month in Shanghai has exceeded 100,000, making it one of the largest in China since the virus was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019. No additional deaths have been reported in the outbreak due to the highly contagious but relatively less lethal Omicron BA.2 variant. The vaccination rate in China is about 90 percent, but significantly lower among the elderly. Shanghai has put all 26 million people in a lockdown and carried out massive tests, requiring anyone with a positive result to be kept in solitary confinement, some of which have recently been created from remodeled gyms and showrooms.
Concerns about food supply
Home to many of China’s richest, most educated and most cosmopolitan citizens, the city first promised a two-phase lockdown on March 28 and will last no more than eight days in total. With minimal notice, residents made a move to the supermarkets, quickly leaving the shelves bare.
These measures have since been extended, leaving many families who had only planned for a limited time in quarantine without supplies. Authorities say they will determine the next steps based on the test results, but have not given details.
Almost empty shelves appear in a Shanghai supermarket on March 29. (Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty Images)
Some residents have received state-of-the-art food packaging containing meat and vegetables. Many, however, struggle to obtain rice and other basic products, with online sellers exhausted and delivery services unable to meet demand.
With no information on when the lockdown will be lifted, stress increases, along with frustration with the city’s apparent lack of preparation for an extended lockdown.
Travel in and out of Shanghai has been largely halted and the city’s busy streets are usually deserted, with the exception of police, health workers and residents who come in for examinations.
CLOCKS Shanghai lockdown tests residents’ boundaries:
Shanghai COVID-19 lock tests residents’ boundaries
Chinese officials are extending massive lockdown across Shanghai – a city of 26 million – as a resurgence of the highly contagious Omicron coronavirus variant. The move has frustrated residents protesting access to basic necessities such as food and medicine. 2:01
China has repeatedly imposed long-term mass lockdowns during the two-year epidemic. Shanghai, however, had largely escaped the most burdensome measures as part of China’s “zero COVID” strategy aimed at isolating any infected person.
Officials say Shanghai, which includes the world’s busiest port and China’s main stock exchange, has plenty of food. But a deputy mayor, Chen Tong, acknowledged on Thursday that getting the “last 100 meters” in households is a challenge.
City officials apologized for mishandling the lockdown and promised to improve food supplies. The leadership of the Communist Party in Beijing is working to suppress the allegations, especially on the Internet, in the hope of preventing the lockdown and the accompanying discontent from becoming a political issue ahead of a key party congress later this year.
China promotes “closed loop” strategy.
In a further confirmation of the government’s approach, Xi attributed to China’s “closed loop” management that it kept the infection rate at just 0.45 percent of those who participated in this year’s Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics. China’s policy on COVID-19 “once again withstands the test, contributing useful experience to the world in fighting the virus and hosting major international events,” Xi said in a speech at a ceremony in honor of the participants on Friday. in the Chinese Games. The government says it is trying to reduce the impact of its tactics, but authorities continue to impose restrictions that also bar access to the northeastern industrial cities of Shenyang, Changchun and Jilin. Meanwhile, the punishments imposed on officials who are considered insufficiently severe seem to motivate local governments to take extreme measures. Dozens of local officials across the country have been fired or otherwise punished, although no one at the central government level has been held accountable. Friday’s announcement identified those fired as Cai Yongqiang, Xu Jianjun and Huang Wei, all district, neighborhood or municipality officials.
