China: Shanghai residents infuriated over stern anti-COVID measures to fight virus surge

In response to an increase in COVID-19 infections in China, Chinese authorities have strengthened restrictions in some regions of Shanghai, further upsetting citizens who were already fed up with the government's lack of sensitivity, ANI reported. This incident was witnessed on March 14, when a video was posted on a Chinese Twitter account which demonstrated Shanghai residents were locked in a specific location, voicing their opinions using a megaphone and speaking to security personnel. 

One of the Shanghai residents can be heard in the video, saying, "Shanghai Municipal government has locked us in here and our responsibility has been passed on to the firm (most probably indicating to the firm they work in). (They) do not care if we live or die? The pandemic is spreading at an explosive rate. There is no one here for us," ANI reported.  

The local resident also revealed that people who are infected with the COVID-19 disease as well as non-infected, are all living together. Further, expressing their agony and anger, the resident asked, “Don't you have family members? There is no one here for us, what is the use of having a police car parked here?". The person even asserted that they have little children and pregnant women among them and were meaninglessly locked inside for six days. 

COVID-19 cases in China

The number of COVID-19 cases in China is increasing day by day, and the whole city of Shenzen, which has a population of 17 million people, is under lockdown. As per the National Health Commission, the northeastern region of Jilin was the most impacted, which recorded over 3,000 cases. China's National Health Commission said that 3,507 new locally distributed cases were found in the prior 24 hours, up from 1,337 the day before. 

Chinese authorities also increased anti-COVID controls at ports on Tuesday, as per PTI. Furthermore, since the coronavirus first spread in late 2019 in Wuhan, China has effectively suppressed wide-scale epidemics using a stringent "zero-COVID" approach that included severe lockdowns that restricted substantial segments of the population to their homes. However, over 1,000 new cases were reported for the sixth day in a square in the world's second-largest economy on Tuesday. 

In the wake of a quick rebound of COVID-19 instances, Shanghai-based infectious disease specialist Zhang Wenhong stated that it is "not time for China to lie flat" and argue that instead of zero-COVID, Beijing should use the moment to put out comprehensive and long-term anti-epidemic plans, ANI reported. 

(Image: AP/ Pixabay)