Tougher lockdown in Shanghai: they call it rest mode

Shanghai has tightened the corona lockdown again – the city is in rest mode. “We’re angry, but there’s nothing we can do,” says one resident. The administration speaks of the “last battle”.

A metropolis of millions so quiet that the birds chirp louder than the life of the city. And that while in Shanghai, according to the city’s official statements, “the last battle” against the virus is going on. It is military terms in the Chinese state media intended to motivate people to keep going.

With the help of the so-called People’s Liberation Army and a “military order” the virus should be fought until there are no more infections. There is no doubt that the Chinese state and party leadership will continue to adhere to the zero-Covid strategy. This leaves some citizens at a loss: “Now the lockdown has just gotten stricter again. But we hope this is the last tough time before things get better and we can finally be free,” says a woman in the city center of Shanghai.

Criticism behind closed doors

There is no freedom of the press or freedom of expression in China. In order to protect our interlocutors in statements that are sometimes critical of the government, we do not name their names. This woman in a neighboring district fears that the zero-Covid policy could go on forever: “I suspect that things will not be the way they used to be for a long time. An outbreak like the one in Shanghai can but flare up again in the future.”

The number of infections in Shanghai, the epicenter of the largest corona outbreak in the People’s Republic since the beginning of the pandemic, is declining. Since mid-April from almost 30,000 new infections per day to just over 3000. The goal of zero new infections should be reached by Sunday – at least in the residential areas outside the state isolation and quarantine facilities.

Rules are apparently getting stricter

There are growing indications that more people are now being brought to such central facilities for this reason. In the residential buildings, the rules have become even stricter this week.

Even people who have been allowed to move freely in the meantime should stay at home again, like this woman in the Xuhui district. “Over the weekend, the authorities sent a message telling us not to leave our block of flats,” she says. “I’ve seen similar messages from other blocks of flats too. It’s called quiet mode. Even in the so-called prepared areas, the freest zone during lockdown, you now have less freedom to go outside.”

Extensive “sleep mode”

This so-called quiet mode also means that people should not congregate within their block of flats, nor should they order groceries online. All contact should be avoided. Also the ones with the employees of the delivery services. Several people report this ARDRadio in Shanghai that the food supply has improved in their district. Aid packages from the government have now come regularly.

There have previously been isolated protests in Shanghai because people did not have enough to eat. Protests are remarkable in China because they are not tolerated by the state and party leadership. There are still minor riots and sometimes violent clashes between the police in white full-body protective suits and citizens who are demanding that the gate to the street be opened or who are resisting going to a state quarantine facility. Videos of it are spreading on social networks.

violence during protests

These are difficult to verify, but reflect the mood of the people with whom the ARD– Radio: “Every day on apps like Wechat and Douyin, we see many videos and posts about clashes between people and law enforcement,” says one of them. “We see police officers using violence or repressing people who complain and resist. We are angry, but there is nothing we can do. After all, most Chinese do not dare to fight the government.”

“When the authorities take reckless action, people are just too powerless to do anything about it,” says another. “There is no channel where you can vent your anger. I’m pessimistic about the situation.”

Many people in Shanghai don’t believe the city will reopen in May, assuming either June or even July. With 70 new infections reported recently, the Chinese capital Beijing is trying to avoid a complete lockdown like in Shanghai. Individual residential areas are cordoned off there, and local public transport is partially restricted.