Covid-19: With over 1,000 fresh infections daily, China’s Zero Covid policy fails
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: With around 1,000 fresh coronavirus infection cases still being reported daily across the country, China’s draconian Zero Covid strategy to contain the bug seems to have failed, the media reported on Friday.
The brutal execution of the policy to contain the pandemic in a country widely believed to be the very source of Covid-19 has also disrupted supply chains, thrown the Chinese economy into a recessionary mode, and sparked fear, anger, and confusion among the people.
Chinese citizens have already endured the pain of recurring lockdowns and now, after the return of the Zero Covid policy, they are scared about its repetition, according to Africa Daily Digital.
The Zero Covid policy has forced thousands of citizens to somehow survive in inhuman conditions. Zhang Weiya, a Shanghai resident, said, “My arms are literally trembling. I really don’t know if my mental health could withstand another isolation.”
Government agencies conducting mass testing on 1.3 million people in Shanghai ordered them to stay inside their homes until the results were out. Shops, schools, and restaurants have been shut down in different parts of the country for various periods.
An example of the grim situation came last month when the Secretary of Datong City’s Municipality, Lu Dongliang, left the Communist Party’s crucial 20th National Congress midway and returned as he found the city was in a “dire situation.”
Disney Resort, the famous tourist spot in Shanghai, saw operations suspended without notice. They subjected the visitors and people living in the surroundings to strict measures. About 30,000 people inside the resort were disallowed to leave allowed unless they tested Covid-19 negative, the report said.
As of now, at least 31 cities in China are still under lockdown, affecting over 232 million people’s lives. They also shut down the Universal Resort in Beijing as fresh cases of Covid soared in the capital city.
The fear of lockdown was visible amongst the migrant workers employed in China’s largest iPhone factory in Covid-hit Zhengzhou. In the viral video, they saw droves of these workers fleeing back to their hometowns amidst a lockdown after a fresh Covid outbreak.
“Workers have broken out of #Apple’s largest assembly site, escaping the Zero #Covid lockdown at Foxconn in #Zhengzhou. After sneaking out, they’re walking to hometowns over 100 kilometers away to beat the Covid app measures designed to control people and stop this. #China” tweeted Stephen McDonnell, BBC’s correspondent in China.
Videos shared on Chinese social media showed people jumping a fence outside the plant, owned by manufacturer Foxconn, in the central city of Zhengzhou.
Angry citizens have been pouring out their frustration. An unknown protester had, last month, hung a banner on a bridge near the venue of the National Congress, which read “Say no to Covid test, yes to food. No to lockdown, yes to freedom. No to lies, yes to dignity.”
Another banner said, “Go on strike, remove the dictator and national traitor Xi Jinping.” People even in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa trooped onto the streets against the repressive measures as part of the Zero Covid policy. Most of the protestors were migrant Chinese Han people, reported Africa Daily Digital.
Many people feel insecure about their livelihood since Zero Covid has seriously damaged their incomes and caused job losses. An angry citizen on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, said “We have had no income for three months – but expenses have not been reduced even by a penny,” said another post.
Recently, several people sang an Indian song from music composer Bappi Lahiri’s 1982 flick, Disco Dancer, to give vent to their anger: Jimmi, Jimmi, Jimmi, Aaja, Aaja, Aaja (Give me rice….).
