Chinese President Xi Jinping is sticking to his strict zero-Covid policy as discontent in Shanghai grows by the day. A large part of the 26 million inhabitants is in the third week of a heavy lockdown without knowing when the measure will end.
Shanghai residents express their dissatisfaction on social media about food and medicine shortages and the quarantine centres, among other things. Some people also criticize the corona policy, and others say the local government has failed. An article with the headline “The patience of the people of Shanghai has reached its limit” was removed from the WeChat platform after the message went viral.
During a visit to Hainan province, Xi implied that China must abide by the strict policy, despite growing discontent and negative economic consequences. He said it is necessary to overcome “crippling thoughts” and “war fatigue” while preventing imported cases of infection and local resurgence of the coronavirus.
According to the Chinese president, there can be no relaxation and “perseverance” leads to victories. Beijing has had many successes with its zero-Covid policy for a long time. After the first months of the pandemic, the corona figures remained low for a long time, but the omikron variant is now causing more and more Chinese people to become infected. Millions of people are also in lockdown outside Shanghai.
Most of the infection reports come from Shanghai. A new daily record reported more than 27,700 new cases there on Thursday. A local official expects the figure to rise further soon due to delayed test results and family members infecting each other.
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