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After more than two years of the pandemic, it’s hard to say that any country has the coronavirus constantly under control. However, China, through which only one wave of infections, according to official data, has been passed, may have thought so. At least until now, because the country now records record numbers of infections. The Chinese government’s response? Strengthening the already severe restrictions, of which the blockade of entire multi-million cities, is almost everyday reality.
- On April 4, over 28 people arrived in China. new COVID-19 infections. This is the largest number of infections since the start of the pandemic
- The Middle Kingdom applies a “zero-covid” policy, which consists in mass testing and rapid extinguishing of infection outbreaks by isolating entire estates, neighborhoods and even cities
- One of the most drastic rules is to separate infected children, including the youngest ones, from their parents and refer them to a hospital for observation. Guardians are not allowed to stay there with them
- The Chinese are protesting more and more against the restrictions, especially as there are problems with food supplies. In Shanghai, there is already a problem with the availability of products such as rice and oil
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
BA.2 stronger than «zero-covid»
On April 4, over 28 jobs were recorded in China. new coronavirus infections. This is a record, not only in the current wave of infections, but throughout the pandemic. Until now, the most cases were reported in mid-February 2020, when SARS-CoV-2 was diagnosed in just over 15. people.
For almost two years, the Middle Kingdom enjoyed some of the best covid statistics in the world. The double-digit number of infections was there for most of that time, and deaths could be counted on the fingers of one hand – nationwide. Subsequent variants of the coronavirus seemed to either avoid China or save money exceptionally, and nothing indicated that Omikron would change anything in this matter.
It turned out, however, that this the extremely infectious variant of SARS-CoV-2 defeated what made the Chinese “strong”: the government’s anti-coronavirus strategy, known as “zero-covid”. This is an extremely radical policy, according to which any outbreaks of infections (even potential outbreaks when there are only one diagnosed COVID-19 infection) are immediately “extinguished” using the tools of isolation and quarantine. In China, they take the form of a blockade of entire settlements and even cities, which in the case of a densely populated country means that isolation affects even tens of millions of citizens at the same time.
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The blockade of Shanghai is taking its toll on residents
Such a situation is currently taking place, for example, in Shanghai – the most populous city in mainland China (inhabited by about 25 million people) and at the same time the financial capital of the country, where there is a huge seaport. The Chinese authorities cannot afford that disruptions in the supply chain or the work of other industries would negatively affect the economy of the entire country, so they redoubled efforts to extinguish the fire caused by Omikron here.
- See also: Shanghai fights coronavirus back. It was closed and divided into zones
The number of new infections in Shanghai is not large, especially from our European perspective (around 9 a day), but for the government it is enough to isolate the city from the rest of the country. And not spare resources, including financial ones, because the actions taken are extremely costly.
According to information published in the official journal of the PLA on Sunday, the People’s Liberation Army sent 2 to Shanghai military medics who were delegated to assist with the mass testing of the city’s inhabitants. Earlier, 30 thousand people arrived there. medical workers from other regions of the country, supporting doctors, nurses and paramedics working there. A huge collection point was created in a closed building of the financial center and, according to the latest government plan, every resident must visit it.
The Shanghai people are fed up with this. Most of them go from quarantine to quarantine because it is enough for one resident of their neighborhood or workplace to be infected for the entire area to be excluded from use. On social media, there are reports of employees who are stuck in their offices and are forced to sleep there because they cannot return to their homes. Many residents complain about the shortage of supplies – not only can they not reach the store for food, but even order it, because the stores are empty. Essentials such as rice and oil are missing.
The most dramatic accounts, however, come from parents of young children who are separated from them after COVID-19 is confirmed. CNN told the story of one Chinese mother who confessed that when her two-year-old daughter tested positive, she was taken from her and sent to the hospital for observation. The mother not only could not go to her daughter, but even get information about her – she only found out that she was in good condition.
“This disease does not require advanced medical skills, it only needs care and companionship,” wrote a woman on the Weibo portal. Eventually, after multiple treatments, the mother was allowed to enter the ward of the hospital where her daughter is staying, perhaps only because she also had COVID-19. She saw her daughter after more than a week of separation.
- Also read: Coronavirus is rampant in China. In Shanghai, parents fear separation from their children
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The government is adamant and the cause of the problem is not resolved
Despite the increasing number of protests from the Chinese the government is adamant and does not intend to loosen the restrictions or introduce changes to the strict “zero-covid” policy. “The strategy is to be applied without any hesitation,” said Deputy Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Sun Chunlan, during her visit to Shanghai, effectively taking away the hope that residents would soon return to normal.
Among the reasons for the worsening of the epidemiological situation in China is the spread of the Omicron sub-variant BA.2, which is even more infectious than the original variety.
- Read also: Why did BA.2 dominate the world? Experts point out three phenomena
The second reason is the slowdown in the implementation of the immunization program. While the primary vaccination cycle is behind 1,24 trillion citizens (almost 86%), the dose boosting “only” 671 million.
An additional problem is the low vaccination rate of seniors, who are prevented from taking the preparation not only by the fear of the side effects of the vaccine, but also by … the doctors themselves. According to the reports of patients and the children who care for them, medics repeatedly have doubts about the safety of vaccination of sick elderly people who struggle with numerous chronic diseases.
- Read also: Why did COVID-19 attack China again? There are two main reasons
We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time we devote it to the problems of the perineum – a part of the body just like any other. And although it concerns all of us, it is still a taboo subject that we are often ashamed to talk about. What do hormonal changes and natural births change? How not to harm the pelvic floor muscles and how to care for them? How do we talk about perineal problems with our daughters? About this and many other aspects of the problem in a new episode of the podcast.
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