Shanghai residents annoyed over tightened anti-COVID controls by Chinese authorities

Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in China, the Chinese authorities have tightened anti-virus controls in some parts of Shanghai infuriating its residents over the lack of empathy by the authorities.

A video uploaded by a Chinese Twitter account on March 14 shows Shanghai residents who have been locked in a particular location raising their voices through a megaphone talking to the security officials.

In the video, it can be seen that the resident is saying, "Shanghai Municipal government has locked us in here and our responsibility has been passed on to the firm (most probably referring to the company they work in). (They) don't care if we live or die? The pandemic is spreading at an explosive rate. There is no one here for us."

"All of us are living together, the ones who are infected and the ones who are not. We have little kids here and pregnant women as well. Don't you have family members? There is no one here for us, what's the use of having a police car parked here?" said the resident.

The person also mentioned that they have been locked there for 6 days now.

Case numbers in China are rising, and the entire city of Shenzen, population 17 million, is in lockdown.

The northeastern province of Jilin was the worst hit, accounting for more than 3,000 cases, according to the National Health Commission.

Since the coronavirus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, China had successfully suppressed large-scale outbreaks through its strict "zero-Covid" strategy, which involved hard lockdowns that confined huge sections of the population to their homes.

But Tuesday was the sixth day in a row that more than 1,000 new cases were recorded in the world's second-biggest economy.

The country identified 3,507 new locally spread cases in the last 24 hours, up from 1,337 a day earlier, reported China's National Health Commission.

Moreover, another Twitter video shows that doctors and nurses in Shanghai are fighting because there weren't enough PPEs.

Amid a rapid resurgence of COVID-19 cases, Shanghai-based renowned infectious disease expert Zhang Wenhong remarked that it is "not time for China to lie flat" and debate over zero-COVID, and instead Beijing should take the period as an opportunity to lay out anti-epidemic strategies that are complete and sustainable.

He made these remarks in a post on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo on Monday. He said that it is "the most difficult period" for China since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Zhang noted that it is "still not time for China to lie flat." "We should have clearer methods for the future rather than debating over zero-COVID or co-existence," he was quoted as saying by the Chinese state media tabloid Global Times.

The state media reported that Chinese observers warned local governments to avoid taking extreme measures such as city lockdowns, as they would harm the local economy.

( With inputs from ANI )