Shanghai’s Covid Lockdowns Leaving Residents Desperate for Food, Medical Care
Shanghai will begin another round of Covid-19 testing for its 26 million residents, authorities said Saturday. The city’s strict lockdown has already left millions desperate for food and other basic necessities.
On Saturday, the city reported about 23,000 cases, most of them asymptomatic, according to the Associated Press. China has enforced a “zero-Covid” policy since the pandemic first began more than two years ago.
The city first began what was intended to be an eight-day lockdown in two phases on March 28, but has since enforced an indefinite citywide shutdown. Authorities said Saturday the city will soon begin lifting lockdown in communities that report no positive cases within 14 days after the new round of testing.
Still, the lockdowns have already caused needless suffering and death.
Some residents have received government food packages including meat and vegetables. However, others have had difficulty securing rice and other basics.
The situation in Shanghai is scary. Reports of millions struggling to feed themselves, elderly unable to access medicine, videos of small riots breaking out circulating on social media. Many households relying on inadequate govt food deliveries. pic.twitter.com/bW1ixaTu7O
— Michael Smith (@MikeSmithAFR) April 8, 2022
Weibo has blocked the hashtag “Shanghai buy food.”https://t.co/5FQ1g5GWZY pic.twitter.com/33Zv8wnlv3
— David Kirton (@DavidKirton_) April 8, 2022
Meanwhile, multiple patients have died at the Shanghai Donghai Elderly Care hospital after allegedly failing to receive adequate care due to staffing issues caused by strict quarantine policies, according to the Associated Press.
Relatives told the outlet their loved ones did not receive proper care after caretakers who were exposed to Covid-19 were taken away to be quarantined under China’s strict virus mitigation measures, leaving the hospital understaffed.
The report notes that it is unclear how many patients have died at the hospital and whether any died of Covid-19. An article from Chinese news outlet Caixin detailing the deaths and infections was seemingly censored and removed shortly after it was published.
The family members are demanding to see surveillance video from inside the hospital after receiving little to no information from the facility, the AP reported.
#China #shanghai A human tragedy under the closed city of Shanghai The indifference of hospitals and doctors when faced with dying patients seeking advice pic.twitter.com/I3UbasqmC0
— XIE,WUWEI 谢吴伟 (@traveller354) April 9, 2022
BREAKING—China’s grip on BA2. At least 23 cities in China on full or partial lockdown—cities with over 193 million residents. Food shortages throughout even Shanghai. Doctors and nurses also exhausted—this doctor collapsed, and was carried off by patients at an isolation center. pic.twitter.com/raJlRNEezC
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) April 9, 2022
Meanwhile, there has been outcry in China after a person tasked with lockdown enforcement beat a pet corgi to death. The corgi belonged to a family whose members had tested positive for Covid-19 in Shanghai. The family was forcibly transferred to a quarantine facility and, unsure whether to leave the pet inside to potentially starve or to let it out to hopefully survive on its own, the family released the dog, according to the South China Morning Post.
A viral video shows the dog chasing after the van that took the family away to quarantine. Once the van had driven away, a gate guard for the complex hit the dog three times with a spade, killing it, the outlet reported.
The government first said it killed the dog out of concern it could further spread the virus, but later said: “We did not fully consider the issue, and we have told the dog’s owner that we will discuss compensation with him later,” according to the report.
