“We asked the hospital to see him again and again,” Jia said. “At one point my father was in so much pain that he wanted to take his life. What can we do? “Please help us inform the central government.” China’s strict zero Covid policy means that all positive cases must be treated. But in recent weeks, as the number of cases has risen sharply and 26 million people have been hit hard, mainland China’s most important economic hub has stopped. Medical resources are largely diverted to the fight against Covid, which makes it difficult to reach those patients who do not have Covid, such as Jia’s father. Luo Ruixiang *, a 39-year-old Chinese worker in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, had a similar experience. He flew home in March hoping to receive emergency treatment after an injury to his left eye. People with mild and asymptomatic Covid cases in quarantine at the Shanghai New International Expo Center on April 1. Photo: Officer Ding Ting / APAn with personal protective equipment walks on an empty street in Shanghai Yangpu District. Photo: AFP / Getty Images He landed in Shanghai and informed his quarantined hotel and customs officials about his medical needs, but for more than a week he heard nothing. “I was worried that if I waited until the quarantine was over, I would have already been blinded,” he said. In desperation, Luo went to the social networking site Weibo for help. The local media soon called him and medical help was quickly on the way. “Fortunately, the operation was completed,” he said. “It’s not supposed to be that complicated, but like a little potato everything is so difficult for me.” The Omicron outbreak in Shanghai is the biggest test of China’s Covid zero policy to date and the city is struggling. On Monday, health officials reported 8,581 asymptomatic and 425 symptomatic cases in the past 24 hours. The numbers are small compared to countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, but are among the highest in China since the Wuhan virus was first reported in late 2019. A doctor performs a Covid test in the Changning area of ​​Shanghai. Photo: Xinhua / Rex / Shutterstock Critics say the city, one of China’s most sophisticated, should have been better prepared. “They have been very successful since 2020, so they were content,” Jia said, stressing that she was not anti-government, but that her father’s suffering had made her very angry. “Both the virus and humans are changing,” said Chen Xi, a public health specialist at the Yale School of Public Health. “This is the first time that the Omicron sub-variant, BA.2, has hit Shanghai. Unprecedented speed of spread exceeds contact detection and other conventional public health measures. “People are also visibly tired of Covid after more than two years of strict health measures.” Drone footage shows deserted Shanghai as the city remains in lockdown – video

Helpless and frustrated

As the lockdown continues in China’s largest metropolis, the sense of helplessness is overwhelming. Photos and videos showing young children separated from their parents in a Shanghai hospital sparked outrage on social media over the weekend. A parent whose toddler was removed after testing positive wrote on social media: “I’m so upset; this is inhuman.” Several Shanghai-based EU diplomats sent a letter to the city government on March 31, urging it to provide assistance to its citizens when they needed medical help. They also called on Shanghai not to separate children from their parents “no matter what the circumstances”. Shanghai health officials defended the policy on Monday as parents and guardians expressed their anger on social media. Wu Qianyu, an official with the Shanghai Municipal Health Committee, said the policy was an integral part of efforts to prevent and control the virus. People look over a dam in a lockdown area in Shanghai on March 26. Photo: Aly Song / Reuters Responding to complaints, Ma Chunlei, the general secretary of Shanghai Municipal Government, admitted on Friday that his administration had not handled the epidemic well. “Our awareness of the highly infectious and insidious mutant strain of Omicron was insufficient and our preparation for the significant increase in infections was incomplete,” he said. “We sincerely accept your criticism and work hard to improve it.” Despite the confession, some say that things have not improved yet. Deng Zhaoyang *’s wife and three-year-old son have been in a state quarantine facility since March 29. “The facility is run by volunteers and no one seems to be responsible. “So much, we do not even know when they will leave the facility and no one went to test them Covid,” he said. Deng, who immigrated to the city as an adult years ago, said that for the past two years, when things were normal and other parts of China were experiencing epidemics, he had never thought the same thing would happen in Shanghai. “Before the Omicron arrived, it was understood that those who took it had to be sent to quarantine facilities,” he said. “But now most of them have only mild symptoms. “Should not the government adjust its policy accordingly?” Feelings of frustration are shared by some of the city’s health professionals. In a revealing phone conversation last week that circulated the internet at home and abroad, an official at the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Shanghai said the city’s medical resources were under severe pressure. A man delivers food to quarantined people on the Puxi side of Shanghai. Photo: Alex Plavevski / EPA “I have already suggested [to higher officials] “Many times those with mild or no symptoms should just be quarantined at home,” he said, adding that ongoing efforts to control the virus were more about politics. “But who heard me?” Some Chinese internet users, however, called it “wrong” and “dangerous.” On Saturday, Shanghai Pudong CDC said it was investigating the caller’s complaint. He also issued an internal statement telling staff on the hotline to speak with one voice. It’s very important for other parts of China to learn and intensify vaccination before the local Chen Shi explosion starts On the same day, Sun Chunlan, Vice President of the Government of China, stressed the “unwavering adherence to the dynamic approach of zero Covid” during an official visit to Shanghai, according to Xinhua. Less than 24 hours later, the Chinese military sent more than 2,000 doctors to Shanghai to support efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

“Unsustainable”

Jin Dong-yan, a professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Hong Kong, said it would be weeks before the virus could be brought under control. “Even if they manage to achieve zero Covid at an extremely high cost, another accident can cause another big increase… Living with the virus is the only viable option,” he said. Much of “living with the virus” has to do with an effective vaccine. Officials have been talking openly in recent months about mRNA vaccines, indicating that authorities may be considering adopting vaccines other than the Chinese-made Sinopharm and Sinovac. Dr. Zhong Nanshan, the country’s top respiratory specialist, said in December that China needs to learn about good things in other countries, such as mRNA vaccines. The Shanghai government also said in an official document last week that it supported the introduction of vaccines and drugs to treat Covid. “Development of rapid antigen testing [RAT] and the approval of mRNA vaccines is possible as they have abundant data [the authorities] to approve the mRNA vaccine as well as the sufficient mass production capacity of RAT “, said Chen, adding that both the low vaccination rates among the elderly and the vaccine technology used in China were” worrying “. “The time left is shrinking fast,” he said. “It is very important for other parts of China to learn and intensify vaccination before local growth begins.” A man stands behind the fence in the quarantine complex in Puxi. Photo: Alex Plavevski / EPA For Jia, the idea of ​​living with the virus seems far-fetched. She just hopes her father is sent to the cancer hospital as soon as possible. “His pain has been relieved as a result of higher doses of painkillers in the last two days, but this is not a viable solution. “He has to see a doctor,” he said. Ever since Jia revealed her father’s ordeal on the Internet last week, she said she had received media attention. Perhaps because of the pressure, the local authorities in her area had called her to tell her that they could send her father to the hospital. “But they had a demand,” he said. “They first wanted me to remove my social media posts. I refused. “They did not manage to send my father to the cancer hospital in the end, because it is only a regional authority and they could not convince a municipal institution in the end.”

  • Names have been changed to protect identities