While the United States has largely moved on from COVID-19 protocols and has attempted to get back to a new state of normalcy, the same cannot be said in other areas of the world. Every country has its own individual idea of maintaining safety for its people as well as guaranteeing economic prosperity.
China, for example, has a “Zero COVID” policy in place currently due to the resurgence of the virus. Their country states that incoming travelers must quarantine in a hotel for 10 days upon arrival at their own cost as well as test negative.
In addition, for those living there, the lockdowns and restrictions are only increasing. In some areas, such as Guangzhou and Zhengzhou, lockdowns have been placed on residents for extended periods of time and consist of not being able to leave the house or go into some of the business or shopping districts during the period no matter the circumstances. They also have to deal with a great amount of testing. Such rigid requirements not only impact the spirit of the citizens living there but the ability of smaller businesses to thrive, which has led to less economic strides.
“Covid Zero produced an unintended consequence, which is putting a huge number of people in the same situation,” MIT professor Yasheng Huang said to the New York Times. “This is a game changer.”
The increasing of these restrictions culminated in a disaster in the western Xinjiang region. A fire erupted in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital city, and at least 10 people died and nine were injured. The people there had been on lockdown for three months. Allegedly, those who were trying to escape the fire were hindered by the COVID restrictions placed upon them, and the firefighters were not able to respond appropriately, although the government denies such accusations.
Many Chinese citizens, especially in the populous areas of Shanghai and around the areas of the fire, were enraged by this and went to the streets to express their dissatisfaction with the current state of restrictions and to show solidarity with those who lost their lives. 300 individuals stood with flowers, candles and signs.
Protestors specifically targeted an app that made people check into public places in order to stop the spread of COVID and even displayed political defiance by speaking out against the current general secretary of the Chinese Communist party Mr. Xi. In response, police officers used pepper spray to gain control of the situation and attempted to shut the protests down. All of this was caught on and spread to the wider online audience despite attempts to have it taken off the internet. The individuals in the areas on lockdown, despite their fears about their identity being known and speaking out against the government, were able to stand and show the public and the greater world what was happening.
“I don’t think [the Chinese Communist Party is] in a position to give concessions because concessions could range from anything from rolling back a lot of the zero COVID measures to sort of more systematic political opening,” University of Cambridge professor William Hurst told NPR. “I would be very, very, very shocked if they opted for that.”
The officials of Urumqi, as a reaction to the challenges of the people, stated that areas of low risk would be allowed to move freely, yet for many, that means that their neighborhood is still on lockdown for the time being. They claimed that there was no communal spread in their communities and that the only infections had occurred for those in a quarantine facility.
