The announcement came just days after the State Department approved the “voluntary departure” of staff from Shanghai. A travel directive also urges Americans to “reconsider traveling” across China, citing strict restrictions on Covid, including the “risk of separation of parents and children.” China’s Foreign Ministry informed the United States that it “strongly opposes” the consulate’s mandate, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a news conference on Tuesday. “We express strong dissatisfaction with the politicization and equipping of US evacuations,” Zao said, adding that the US was “smearing China”. Zhao also defended China’s Covid prevention and control policies as “scientific and effective,” insisting that the government had “every confidence in controlling the new Covid-19 wave” despite the growing number of cases. The financial hub reported more than 26,000 new locally transmitted cases on Monday, for the sixth consecutive day more than 20,000, according to the National Health Commission of China (NHC). So far, more than 320,000 cases have been reported in 31 provinces – including Shanghai – as of March 1. Zhao’s claim is in stark contrast to the grim messages from other Chinese officials, including NHC Deputy Director-General Lei Zhenglong, who on Tuesday warned that the Shanghai outbreak “has not been effectively contained.” He added that the epidemic has since spread to many provinces and that the number of new infections is expected to remain high in the coming days.
Lockdown frustrations
The Shanghai lockdown has been mired in controversy and malfunction since it was first introduced,’s seemingly unannounced, on March 29th. Public outrage has been exacerbated by stories of parents being separated from their infected children, even infants, under Shanghai’s rules of isolation, and of a corgi pet being killed by Covid prevention workers after the its owner was quarantined. Videos circulating on the internet show protests erupting last week in a residential complex in southwest Shanghai, with residents confronting police at the gate and shouting, “Give us supplies.” CNN could not independently verify the images or reach out to local authorities for comment. Social media posts also show growing despair, with a recent video showing a mother begging for medicines for her child from neighbors in Shanghai at midnight. “Do you have a fever medicine? My child has a fever. Is anyone home? Excuse me, I’m sorry to bother you! Everyone! Is anyone awake?” The video shows the mother crying. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, China has tightened its rules on the sale and purchase of antipyretic drugs, requiring a prescription and a negative Covid test. CNN geographically located the apartment complex in the video located in Shanghai, but could not independently verify the video and did not identify the mother involved. Last week, the Shanghai Outbreak spread to nearby cities such as Hangzhou and Ningbo in Zhejiang Province. Some nearby cities were locked up, such as Heining in Zhejiang and Kunshan in Jiangsu Province. Meanwhile, the southern city of Guangzhou has reported dozens of cases since early April as well, prompting several rounds of mass examinations and school closures. Residents have been discouraged from leaving the city and are required to take a negative PCR test if they wish to leave. On Monday, Shanghai officials began easing measures in neighborhoods that had not reported positive cases in 14 days. However, authorities have warned that these residents should only go outside if necessary, be tested twice a week, and lockdown will be re-imposed if new cases are detected in the neighborhood. This still leaves the vast majority of the city’s 25 million inhabitants in a lockdown.
