Frantic appeals for food and medical care are spreading across China in a grim deja vu, as tens of millions of people are put under weeks-long coronavirus lockdowns ahead of a key meeting of the ruling Communist Party.
BEIJING — Frantic appeals for food and medical care are spreading across China in a grim deja vu, asare put under weeks-long coronavirus lockdowns ahead of a key meeting of the ruling Communist Party.While much of the world is moving past the pandemic, China remains stuck, with leader Xi Jinping continuing orders to maintain “zero covid.” These lockdowns are keeping localized outbreaks from spreading but are taking an enormous economic and psychological toll on the population.
Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said Friday that some sweeping covid controls should be narrowed, without giving a time frame, but she also emphasized the importance of preventing large-scale outbreaks ahead of the congress, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.Some of the worst reports are coming out of Ili prefecture in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, where a lockdown began early last month.
In some cities, neighborhood committees have delivered free groceries to those in lockdown. But Gulnazar said their neighborhood committee has been offering only to sell them food at higher-than-normal prices, and they didn’t do so often. The last time they came to Gulnazar’s door was 11 days ago, she said.“We only eat naan and congee,” she said, referring to flatbread and porridge. “There is no milk or vegetables.
The Ili government apologized Friday for problems in the lockdown response, but it also rejected some reports as rumors, including one of an old man killing himself. Ili police announced Sunday that four people had been punished with five to 10 days’ detention each for “spreading rumors” about the lockdown and warned residents to watch their words.
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