Desperation in Shanghai: clashes in the face of strict confinement and lack of food

Apartment blocks converted into quarantine centers. Civilians confronting the police. Disruptions in the supply of food and products.

This is the panorama that lives Shanghaithe largest city in Chinain his third week of strict confinement for the outbreak of coronavirus that threatens the controversial strategy of “covid zero” of the Asian giant.

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Because of the spread of omicron variantthe city, with 25 million inhabitants and a vital weight for the country’s economy, is suffering the worst wave since the one that originated in Wuhan more than two years ago.

Millions are confined. Anyone who tests positive is quarantined. The city registers more than 20,000 cases a day, a relatively smaller number compared to many countries that are already trying to learn to live with the pathogen.

But China’s strict measures mean infections are starting to spiral out of control for authorities, who are now struggling to find enough room for positives.

Videos appeared this Thursday on social networks show clashes between police and people forced to leave their homes for their homes to serve as places of isolation for those infected.

Shanghai has 25 million inhabitants and is considered the financial capital of China.

Exhibition centers and schools have also been converted into quarantine facilities. Makeshift hospitals have also been set up.

In a world learning to live with the virus, and with most detected cases being mild, China’s strict restrictions now seem to be causing a visible desperation in some of its inhabitants.

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Analysis by Robin Brant – Shanghai Correspondent

Three weeks of lockdown and some here in Shanghai are angry.

Scenes like these (videos of clashes between police and residents) are rare, but so is the confinement of almost 25 million people.

Dressed head-to-toe in protective suits in an eastern district of the city, officials forced people out of their rental apartments into temporary quarantine facilities in the name of the war against a resurgence of COVID-19.

But having their homes hijacked was too much for some, and their desperation was easy to hear for all.

A few miles away there was an organized protest, a bold stance as the lockdown tightens in a country where you can be arrested for picking fights.

They are angry that a local school has become another quarantine facility. In the end, police in riot shields forced them off the streets.

This was on a small scale, but it is a sign of anger and frustration as this lockdown goes on.

There is no set date for the end of the confinement in Shanghai.

Anger in social networks and the street

In recent weeks, many have taken to social media to complain about restrictions and lack of food and supplies.

Normally, these types of complaints and comments do not pass the official censorship filters, but the number of complaints is being so high which is hindering the work of the moderators.

Many others are using internal messaging apps to show their discontent.

What happens on social networks is replicated with what has been seen in videos about what happens on the streets.

Pictures have shown residents yelling at officials and police asking for food and supplies. And other videos showed clashes between police and residents who were forced to leave their homes so positive cases could be quarantined.

LOOK: The videos that show the desperation of the population of Shanghai for the new confinement

lack of supplies

The low number of serious cases in Shanghai has caused many to question whether a lockdown is necessary.

People must order food and water and wait for government shipments of vegetables, meat and eggs, but some analysts say many are running out of supplies.

Food distribution services in Shanghai are overwhelmed.

The scope of the lockdown has saturated delivery services, grocery store websites and even the distribution of government supplies.

Meanwhile, in other parts of China some manufacturing sectors may be forced to closeat least temporarily, because companies are not sourcing essential components from Shanghai.

He Xiaopeng, chairman of electric vehicle maker Xiao Peng, said if operations didn’t restart again in Shanghai in May, potentially all car factories would have to go out of business.

“persistence is victory”

The vast majority of cases detected each day are people without symptoms and there have been no officially reported deaths in the city during this outbreak.

According to health officials, this Thursday there were only nine serious cases, especially in older patients with other previous ailments.

However, the authorities have promised that the city “will not relax in the slightest”, preparing around 100 quarantine facilities to receive all the cases.

Pressure on the city to bring the outbreak under control is coming from the top, with President Xi Jinping warning on Wednesday that strict measures “must not be relaxed” and proclaiming that “to persist is to win” in a speech published by state media.

Source: Elcomercio