Status: 04/05/2022 09:06 a.m
China continues to rely on a zero-Covid strategy, but is unable to get the corona outbreak in Shanghai under control. The lockdown for one of the largest cities in the world has been extended again – indefinitely.
The Chinese authorities have extended the corona lockdown for Shanghai indefinitely. Referring to a high number of infections, the city government announced that the results of the mass test on Monday, the examination and the transport of the infected to quarantine had to be completed before deciding on the further direction of the control measures. Deputy party leader Gu Honghui spoke to the press of a “race against time”.
The lockdown affects more than 25 million residents in one of the world’s largest cities. Actually, the curfews in western Shanghai should only run from Friday to Tuesday. But as before in the east and south, where the lockdown was supposed to be from Monday to Friday, an extension was ordered.
The lockdown in Shanghai leads to bizarre scenes – for example when walking the dog outside the door can no longer be avoided.
Image: REUTERS
“Distributed Quickly and Covertly”
“The virus spread quickly and covertly,” Gu said. “It’s a big challenge for testing capacity.” The authorities were working flat out to analyze the situation and make decisions about how to proceed.
People have to stay in their homes. To provide for them, the authorities are distributing food parcels. In the past few days, however, there have been bottlenecks in some parts of the city. Even Chinese state media reported “difficulties”. In a step that is rare in the People’s Republic, the Shanghai city government apologized on Thursday. The government underestimated the spread of the omicron variant and did not prepare enough for the increase in new infections.
It’s getting tight in the isolation facilities
In Shanghai, those who test positive are either taken to a hospital or to a designated isolation facility – even if they have no symptoms. The corresponding facilities are now reaching their capacity limits.
Children and infants are separated from their parents if both parents are positive. The children are placed in a separate facility if no one in the family can look after them.
More cases than in two years
The number of new infections in China is currently higher than it has been in two years. The Beijing Health Commission reported a record number of more than 16,000 new infections. With more than 15,000, most cases are asymptomatic. In Shanghai alone, 268 diseases and more than 13,000 infections without symptoms were reported after the tests of the past few days – for the first time more than 10,000 in one day. The northeast Chinese province of Jilin is also badly affected, where there are also curfews and millions of people are being tested.
Compared to other countries, the number of infections in China, with its 1.4 billion inhabitants, is rather low. In Germany, which only has 83 million inhabitants, around 180,000 new infections are currently being recorded within 24 hours. Unlike most other countries in the world, however, China continues to pursue a strict zero-Covid strategy.
Strategy successful for a long time
This means that strict measures such as curfews, mass testing or city lockdowns are imposed even if only isolated cases arise. In the case of Shanghai, according to the state media, Chinese experts assume that the strict measures will reduce the number of new infections to zero within two weeks.
With this strategy, the authorities of the communist country were successful for a long time. Life has been largely normal for the past two years. With the speed at which the omicron variant is spreading, however, the strict measures are working less and less.