Zhou, an auto dealer in northeastern China, last saw his father alive in a video chat on November 1, hours after their home on Beijing’s outskirts was locked down.
They were unaware of the snap at the time. Covid restrictions had been imposed without prior notice, and the apartment building where Zhou’s parents and 10-year-old son lived had no cases, he claimed.
The family learned the hard way when Zhou’s father was denied immediate emergency medical help after struggling to breathe during the video call. Zhou and his son, he claimed, made a dozen calls for an ambulance, claiming security guards barred relatives from entering the building to take the patient.
The family learned the hard way when Zhou’s father was denied immediate emergency medical help after struggling to breathe during the video call. Zhou and his son called for an ambulance a dozen times, claiming security guards barred relatives from entering the building to transport the 58-year-old grandfather to the hospital.
After an hour, an ambulance arrived to transport Zhou’s father to a hospital only five minutes away. However, it was too late to save him.
“The local government murdered my father,” Zhou sobbed to CNN in his Beijing home. He claims he has received no explanation for why the ambulance took so long to arrive, only a death certificate with the incorrect date of death.
“The local government murdered my father,” Zhou sobbed to CNN in his Beijing home. He claims he has received no explanation for why the ambulance took so long to arrive, only a death certificate with the incorrect date of death.
Zhou’s rage is part of a growing outpouring of opposition to China’s unyielding zero-Covid lockdowns, which officials insist are necessary to protect people’s lives from a virus that has killed only six people out of tens of thousands of symptomatic cases reported in the last six months, according to the official count.
However, the restrictions, not the virus, are increasingly being blamed for the heartbreaking deaths that have sparked nationwide outrage on social media.
On the same day, Zhou lost his father, a 3-year-old boy died of gas poisoning in a locked-down compound in Lanzhou, China’s northwestern city, after being prevented from being taken to a hospital immediately.
After a 12-hour delay in medical care, a 4-month-old girl died in hotel quarantine in the central city of Zhengzhou two weeks later.
Many more families, like Zhou’s, have most likely suffered similar tragedies away from the spotlight of social media.
Zhou stated that he contacted several state media outlets in Beijing to have them cover his story, but no reporters showed up. Despite his growing desperation and rage, he turned to foreign media.
Zhou stated that he contacted several state media outlets in Beijing to have them cover his story, but no reporters showed up.
Despite the risk of repercussions from the government, he turned to foreign media in his desperation and anger. CNN is only using his surname as a precaution.
“All I want is justice for my father.” Why did you confine us? “Why did you take my father’s life?” he asked.
Increasing dissatisfaction
Across China, anger and frustration with zero-Covid have reached new heights, resulting in rare scenes of protest, as local governments rushed to reintroduce restrictions in the face of record infections – despite a recent government announcement of a limited relaxation of some rules.
Last week, residents in the southern city of Guangzhou protested an extended lockdown by tearing down barriers and marching down streets.
Workers at the world’s largest iPhone assembly factory clashed with hazmat-suited security officers this week in Zhengzhou’s central city over a delay in bonus payment and chaotic Covid rules.
On Thursday, a resident of the sprawling southwest metropolis of Chongqing delivered a fiery speech criticizing the Covid lockdown on his residential compound.
“Without freedom, I’d rather die!” he exclaimed to a cheering crowd, who dubbed him a “hero” and wrestled him free from the grasp of several police officers who had tried to arrest him.
These acts of defiance echoed an outpouring of discontent online, particularly from Chinese football fans – many of whom are under some form of lockdown or restriction – who have been forced to watch the World Cup from home as tens of thousands of raucous fans pack stadiums in Qatar.
“None of the fans are seen wearing face masks, nor are they required to provide proof of Covid test results.” “Aren’t they on the same planet as us?” asked a Wechat article that went viral before being censored, questioning China’s insistence on zero-Covid.
There are signs that Chinese officials are feeling the heat of growing public discontent, which has added to the heavy social and economic toll imposed by the escalating lockdowns.
The Chinese government issued a 20-point plan earlier this month to limit the impact of zero-Covid rules on daily life and the economy.
It reduced quarantine from ten to eight days for infected people’s close contacts and inbound travelers.
It also eliminated secondary contact quarantine requirements, discouraged unnecessary mass testing drives, and lifted a major restriction on international flights.
The announcement raised hopes of a shift toward reopening, causing Chinese stocks to surge. However, as China enters its fourth winter of the pandemic, an increase in infections is quickly dampening such hopes.
On Friday, the country reported a record 32,695 local cases, as infections surpassed the previous peak recorded in April during Shanghai’s months-long epidemic.
The announcement raised hopes of a shift toward reopening, causing Chinese stocks to surge.
However, as China enters its fourth winter of the pandemic, an increase in infections is quickly dampening such hopes.
The country reported a record 32,695 local cases on Friday, as infections surpassed the previous peak recorded in April during Shanghai’s months-long lockdown.
Are lockdowns being lifted?
Instead of relaxing controls, many local officials are adopting a zero-tolerance approach, attempting to eradicate infections as soon as they appear.
Some cities that dropped mass testing requirements in the aftermath of the announcement have already tightened other Covid restrictions.
Shijiazhuang, a northern city, was among the first to cancel mass testing. It also allowed students to return to school after taking online classes for a long time. However, as the number of reported cases increased over the weekend, authorities reimposed a lockdown on Monday, ordering residents to remain at home.
Shanghai’s financial hub banned visitors from entering venues such as shopping malls, restaurants, supermarkets, and gyms for five days on Tuesday. Authorities also closed down half of the city’s cultural and entertainment venues.
Guangzhou officials extended the lockdown on Haizhu district, where the protest took place, for the fifth time this week, and also locked down the city’s most populous Baiyun district.
The city of Zhengzhou, which is home to the Foxconn factory where workers clashed with police, imposed a five-day lockdown on its major urban districts.
Huang stated that he does not anticipate any significant changes to the zero-Covid policy in the near future. “Because the incentive structure of local governments has not changed.” “They are still being held responsible for the Covid situation in their jurisdiction,” he said.
Chinese officials, for their part, have repeatedly denied that the 20 measures outlined in the government guidelines were intended to transition to living with the virus.
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According to Shen Hongbing, a disease control official, the measures are aimed at “optimizing” existing Covid prevention and control policies. “They are not easing (control), let alone reopening or ‘lying flat,'” he explained.
Back on the outskirts of Beijing, Zhou said that while the zero-Covid policy “benefits the majority,” its local implementation had been too draconian.
“I don’t want this to happen again in China or anywhere else in the world,” he said. “I recently lost my father. My son recently lost his adored grandfather. “I’m enraged right now.”
