26 Million Chinese Quarantined
In the last three years, China has established a zero-COVID policy. But with the rapid expansion of Omicron, the long-term and large-scale lockdown in Shanghai has caused its inhabitants several hardships. According to reports, 26 million Chinese quarantined at home and in a central facility in Shanghai.
A shortage of food
Due to the forceful quarantine, people are acquiring supplies from their neighbors. However, the supplies are not enough to meet their personal needs.
Meanwhile, the government’s inadequate management has blocked contributions from other cities from reaching residents in Shanghai. In the midst of the crisis, regional officials also discovered the re-selling of humanitarian supplies.
Other patients are unable to receive medical treatment
Keep COVID-positive cases in isolation according to the “zero COVID” policy. Symptomatic and asymptomatic patients are quarantined centrally. In this process, the majority of medical resources go into COVID patients’ treatment, leaving other patients in China untreated.
Cancer patients are unable to receive treatment on time. Kidney patients are unable to receive dialysis. Recently, a patient died of a heart attack after waiting for more than three hours for an ambulance. Long-term quarantine is further aggravating depressed patients’ conditions. Patients who require medication to survive are unable to obtain it. Those who require oxygen to breathe are without oxygen cylinders.
Chinese people wrote on social media that “any disease can kill us, except COVID.”
The Killing of Pets
China recently introduced another policy wherein COVID-positive owners can’t quarantine with their pets.
A video of a “COVID worker” beating a corgi to death after the owner was quarantined went viral on social media. Many criticised the dog’s murder as harsh and needless. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities continue to dispose of cats and dogs in a “bio-safety” manner. Pet owners are running to social media for assistance. To save their pets from being killed by COVID workers, the residents are looking for people online who can take care of their pets.
Despite the array of hardships faced by Chinese inhabitants, Liang Wannian, who chairs a National Health Commission group on COVID-19, believes Shanghai’s “dynamic clearance” is still the “best option.”
