This is not the first time the Chinese authorities have worked so hard to stifle the spread of infection. The government has a zero vision for corona infection, which entails strict border restrictions and targeted shutdowns where virus infection is detected.
This time it is the city of Yuzhou, with about 1.2 million inhabitants, that is being shut down.
The local authorities announced that from Monday night, all residents of the city had to stay at home to prevent the spread of infection.
The announcement came after a total of three cases of coronary infection had been discovered the days before – none of those with symptoms. Food and other necessary goods are delivered to the door, and only in exceptional cases are people allowed to leave their homes.
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Also closed in Xi’an
Even before the closure, all public transport, shopping malls, museums and tourist attractions were closed in the city located in Henan Province.
Yuzhou is not the only city with strict restrictions in China at the moment. The city of Xi’an with 13 million inhabitants has been closed indefinitely since December 23 – a situation that may persist until the number of infections is zero.
The closure there originally allowed residents to leave their homes every other day to buy food and other necessary goods, but this opportunity has since been tightened.
How strict it is, however, varies from district to district – some are not allowed to leave their homes at all and must have food delivered to their door. Residents can only leave Xi’an if they have a special permit to do so.
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Strikes hard
Xi’an will now begin its third round of mass testing. Authorities in the city have the capacity to test ten million people in just seven hours, and can get the results of three million tests in just twelve hours, according to state media.
Among its 1.4 billion people, China registered a total of 175 new cases on Tuesday, including five in Henan province and eight at a factory in the city of Ningbo. Although infection rates in China are far lower than in many other parts of the world, the infection is increasing and now at a level not seen since March 2020.
The zero-vision policy for cases of infection with quarantine requirements for each infected person, mass testing and measures against travelers from abroad have helped China to limit previous outbreaks.
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Not enough food
But the current shutdowns are considered by many to be very severe, and they put pressure on both the economy and the lives of millions of people.
On the social media Weibo, several residents of Xi’an have begun to complain about the closure, and especially about how difficult it has become to get food.
– Can not leave the building I am in, and it is becoming more and more difficult to buy food on the internet, writes a resident.
– Even in a time of materialistic abundance where everyone is trying to lose weight, it has suddenly become a difficult task to find enough to eat, writes another resident on the website Weixin.
A large video shared on Weibo shows three guards attacking a man trying to deliver the traditional baozi dish to his family members. The guards have since apologized to the man, and they were all fined by the police for the behavior.
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The Olympic bubble in place
Chinese authorities are defending the strict policy and believe it is necessary to get rid of corona infection once and for all.
One month before the Winter Olympics in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin assured BBC that China has designed an effective defense system against the virus.
As part of this system, thousands of employees and volunteers enter a separate Olympic bubble this week, where they are not allowed to have any form of physical contact with the world outside the bubble.
Those who arrive in China to participate in or cover the games must also immediately enter the bubble, and they are not allowed to leave it until they leave the country.
