As Europe approaches full reopening, the situation is quite different in Shanghai, China.
On March 28, the city shut down abruptly. Businesses had to close their doors, and 25 million residents were banned from leaving their homes.
The frustration and despair among the inhabitants has grown great. Social media videos show residents screaming out of their windows at night. There is an extensive food shortage, the elderly are isolated in apartments and residents do not receive health care on time.
Everyone who tests positive for corona is taken to temporary quarantine centers, which have been criticized for being overcrowded and unhygienic, writes The Guardian.
– LOCKDOWN: A worker wearing protective gear walks through the Jing’an neighborhood of Shanghai on April 10 while the city is shut down. Photo: Hector Retamal / AFP
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– Low infection
The Chinese government reported nearly 25,000 cases of infection on Monday.
Just over 23,000 of them were confirmed in Shanghai, but of them, only about 1,000 people had symptoms, writes AP.
– The level of infection in mainland China is very low. There is less infection there per day than there was in Norway a month ago, says assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad.
Shanghai has registered more than 200,000 cases of infection during the current wave of infections, but not a single death has been registered.
Nakstad is amazed at the Chinese strategy.
– These are very strict measures, so we are sitting and wondering what the plan is next, the way you now run the race in Shanghai, Nakstad says.
Residents in #Shanghai screaming from high rise apartments after 7 straight days of the city lockdown. The narrator worries that there will be major problems. (in Shanghainese dialect—he predicts people can’t hold out much longer—he implies tragedy).pic.twitter.com/jsQt6IdQNh
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) April 10, 2022
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Doubts the strategy
The frustration among the inhabitants has grown so great that the authorities have had to give some relief.
On Tuesday, around 6.6 million residents in Shanghai broke the isolation and again moved outdoors. This only includes districts that have not registered a single case of infection in the last two weeks.
In addition, 1.8 million people in “controlled areas” without registered infection in the past week can move within their own neighborhood, writes AP.
The authorities also reopened pharmacies and some markets.
Although some relief has been given, the health authorities are still taking the situation seriously.
“The epidemic is still growing rapidly and the spread of infection is not under control,” Lei Zhenglong of the National Health Commission told a news conference, according to the news agency.
While many countries have decided to live with the coronavirus, China doubts its “zero infection strategy”. The goal is to isolate every single case of infection by means of very intrusive measures.
– FOOD: A volunteer works to organize vegetables to be delivered at the doors of the residents who have to stay at home in Pudong Shanghai. Photo: Liu Jin / AFP / China Out
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Great contrast to Norway
Nakstad believes that the degree of vaccine coverage in the population constitutes an important difference between Norway and China.
– The infection trend is rising, and they are probably very worried because they do not have adequate vaccine coverage among their oldest inhabitants. We saw that in Hong Kong a few months ago, that was very problematic, he says.
During the last wave of infections in Hong Kong, hospitals were overcrowded and many elderly people died with corona, writes South China Morning Post.
Compared with the situation in Shanghai, Nakstad believes that Norway is in a favorable situation.
– MEGAPHONE: A volunteer uses a megaphone to communicate with the residents of an apartment complex in Shanghai. Photo: Chen Jianli / Xinhua / AP
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Can lower the shoulders
– There are ever lower infection rates, fewer hospitalizations and very few measures around Europe over time, says Nakstad.
At the same time, he is always concerned with conveying that his father is not over, as long as there is still a pandemic in the world.
– But for Norway, as long as we have vaccines that work and protect, we are a much better situation than before, he says.
He says that the Norwegian Directorate of Health and NIPH continue to follow developments in the world closely.
– Whether there will be a need for an extra vaccine dose over time, is also something that is considered on an ongoing basis. But right now we can lower our shoulders a little, enjoy the spring and not think too much about pandemic, says Nakstad.
25 million people have been imprisoned for over two weeks
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