China’s health officials for the metropolis of Shanghai, home to almost 27 million, issued an announcement on March 12 asking residents not to leave Shanghai unless for emergency situations. In addition, the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Department stated that the city’s borders would be shut off starting on March 14 until further notice.
In addition, hospitals in Shanghai will also be temporarily closed, including the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital Affiliated in Fudan University, the Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and more.
A Shanghai resident told state media on March 13 that four buildings in his district have been sealed from the outside and another residential area half a mile away from him has also been closed off. Local authorities installed iron sheets outside of residential gates in order to prevent people from entering and leaving the premises, the resident said.
China has recently seen a massive uptick in COVID-19 infections with more cities now seeing increased testing and prevention measures put in place as authorities scramble to curb further spread of the virus.
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As authorities in Shanghai tightened restriction measures under the country’s strict “Zero-COVID” rules, hundreds of Shanghai residents have taken to social media to show the government’s poor handling and sometimes violent ways of ensuring the lockdowns.
Up to $1900 compensation for reporting COVID violations
Furthermore, officials in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province announced on March 12 that people who “report” COVID violators from Shanghai and other heavily infected areas would be compensated monetarily. Informants can get paid from 500 yuan (USD$78) up to 12,000 yuan (USD$1900) for these reports.
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Violations include the breaching of any quarantine requirements. For instance, if an individual reports someone who is currently classified as “yellow” in China’s health code system (meaning they must isolate for seven days due to close contact with an infected person) and is in violation of the relevant regulations, the government will pay 300 Yuan (roughly USD$50) to the informant.
Successfully “catching” a violator a “red” status would net the informant the maximum payment of 12,000 yuan.
China’s health code system is classified by three colors: green, yellow and red. Green means there are no restrictions, yellow means that the person has to isolate for seven days, and a red code means that a 14-day isolation period is required. Codes are assigned based on community transmission, travel history and close contacts at any given time.
In its drive to completely eradicate the pandemic from China, the Chinese regime has implemented some of the most stringent pandemic-related controls in the world. The Western Chinese city of Xi’an, which is home to over 13 million residents, was placed under a strict lockdown in December 2021 – with residents unable to leave their homes and shortages of food and other resources being widely reported across social media.
In other parts of the country, such as cities in the central Chinese province of Guangxi, and other large metropolis’ like Shenzhen and now Shanghai have also seen a tightening of COVID restrictions with certain parts being placed into lockdown.
