To avoid a Shanghai-style lockdown, Beijing has put weddings & funerals on hold
Key Takeaways:
- To avert a Shanghai-style lockdown, China's capital Beijing has closed schools and halted weddings and burials.
- Due to the authorities' distribution of stale food during the city's COVID-19 lockdown, Shanghai residents have also become unwell after consuming some of the food supplies.
- The government's inadequate handling of the country's largest Covid-19 epidemic has fuelled public skepticism and resentment.
According to a South Korean media outlet on Friday, China's capital Beijing has closed schools and suspended weddings and funerals to avoid the dreaded Shanghai-style lockdown.
All schools have been forced to finish lessons as of Friday, according to the city's Education Bureau, with no restart date set. China's testing mandates have impacted 20 million people. According to Airrang, a South Korean news outlet, Chinese citizens are stockpiling, and panic buying is rising at local supermarkets.
The continued harsh lockdown restrictions in Shanghai, China, to control the spread of COVID-19 have significantly impacted people's daily lives due to food shortages.
Residents of Shanghai have taken to social media to broadcast recordings of individuals howling from apartment balconies in protest of the authorities' severe tactics. However, the administration has denied claims of a mutiny, and authorities have countered that everything is OK and being managed properly.
The disruption of supply networks, particularly in the food sector, has exacerbated people's problems. People have begun venting their frustrations on Weibo, China's social networking site, claiming that food packs, including ducks delivered to residents in Pudong district's Zhoupu township, were discovered to be rotten after becoming green in color. Shanghai authorities refuted the charges as "rumors."
According to reports, Shanghai people have also been feeling ill after consuming part of the food supplies due to the authorities' distribution of stale food during the city's COVID-19 lockdown.
Officials have claimed they will investigate the situation, while some neighborhood groups have urged residents to throw out dubious (rotten) food products.
The issue of low-quality food rations has added to the woes of residents who have been struggling to get good food, medical help, earn money, and live a respectable life. However, authorities in Shanghai have begun to take more drastic measures, such as sending drones to warn people to behave properly.
In two years, the city's poor handling of the country's greatest Covid-19 outbreak has stoked public suspicion and outrage toward the government.
It is time for authorities to ensure that residents living indoors in harsh conditions have access to nutritious food and medical assistance.