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 China's health authority said another 76 asymptomatic local
infections were found in Shanghai on Wednesday, and authorities have
been sealing off schools, residential compounds and office blocks as
part of a "dynamic clearance" approach aimed at shutting down each
new transmission route as soon as it arises.
China has insisted its "zero-COVID" strategy is cost-effective and
saves lives, even as other countries seek to coexist with a virus
that has killed 6 million people worldwide.
But there are signs that after more than two years of battling the
pandemic, the public is starting to bristle.
One resident, surnamed Yan, has been quarantined in Shanghai
University for a week after several cases were recorded there.
"I didn't expect the situation to get so bad so I only took a little
stuff for daily use with me," he said. "I thought the quarantine
would last just one day or so."
"As I have my own office, I can sleep alone but some seven or eight
colleagues had to sleep in one big room," he added.
Residents also took to China's Twitter-like Weibo microblogging
platform to complain about what would happen to their pets if they
were caught without warning in Shanghai's widening COVID-19 dragnet.
Bank workers told Reuters they have already taken a suitcase to the
office to prepare for potential lockdowns, while a manager at an
international school in Shanghai said he had been asked by his
employers to stockpile two weeks of supplies in his office.
"Why not simply ask people to work from home until any period of
heightened risk passes? he said. It's starting to look like some
of these measures are theatrical and for show - companies and
organizations want to show how onboard they are with the 'fight
against COVID'."
The variant known as Omicron is more infectious though less deadly
than previous strains. With many carriers asymptomatic, it is harder
to detect, and experts say it is putting China's defences under
strain.
Though the Shanghai government has not confirmed that its new cases
are Omicron, other regions in China including Gansu, Shandong and
Shaanxi have all said they are now dealing with the new variant.
[to top of second column] |
 "2020 AGAIN"
Schools are bearing the brunt of Shanghai's
anti-COVID measures, with some already shut
down.
Another large international school in the city
said on Thursday that pupils will be quarantined
on site for two days after one was found to have
been in "close contact" with a confirmed case.
It also told parents to refrain from sharing
information about the lockdown on social media.
But analysts have warned that the economic costs of
"zero-COVID" are rising, with sectors like tourism and entertainment
hurt badly by the shutdowns. Xuhui district in central Shanghai said
on Wednesday that it was shutting down public venues and cultural
spaces like parks, libraries and cinemas until further notice.
"Ah, how come it is 2020 again?" said one frustrated resident,
posting on Weibo under the user name ChineseRock. "It's so annoying.
Shanghai recently seems to have had compounds or office blocks
quarantined every day."
While some overseas experts have said China's "dynamic clearance"
policies have been rendered ineffective by Omicron, Chinese
officials and experts have insisted that this is no time to relax
restrictions.
"Since the epidemic is still raging around the world, there are
still many uncertainties in the mutation of the new coronavirus, and
the possibility of increased virulence cannot be ruled out," said
Zhang Boli, a parliamentary delegate and medical adviser, told
Reuters this week.
"China will still adhere to its existing prevention and control
policies for some time to come."
(Reporting by David Stanway, Engen Tham, Brenda Goh and the Shanghai
newsroom, additional reporting by Roxanne Liu and the Beijing
newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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