Covid Lockdown in Shanghai 2022 – China’s Worst Outbreak Ever

Intro

Anti-vaxxers have no say in China. China prioritizes collective rights such as health over individual rights such as privacy. China was lagging behind in terms of vaccinations and today 88.8% of its population have been vaccinated.

At the peak of the vaccination program, China was vaccinating 20 million people a day. China takes the threat of COVID seriously and in a country of 1.4 billion there are less than 5000 (4638 to be precise) reported deaths caused by COVID. Shanghai, China’s largest city and financial hub is now in lockdown due to the latest COVID outbreak.

Shanghai has been plunged into an extended lockdown and some residents face another 10 days of isolation in their homes as China’s strict zero-Covid policy threatens to derail the country’s economy.

Covid Lockdown in Shanghai 2022 – The Practical Implications

The changes to the rules in Shanghai mean that anyone living in a building where a positive case has been found will be required to stay home for 10 more days. Residents of other buildings in the same residential compound will be confined for three more days.

People living in the surrounding neighbourhood of a positive case will face less restrictive limits. They may be allowed out to shop for necessities, but only for a limited time on certain days.

About 16 million people will be tested during the lockdown in Puxi on the west side of the river in Shanghai. Residents are not allowed to leave their neighbourhoods or housing compounds during the four-day period, with groceries or meals delivered to their complexes.

With Carrot and Stick, China Presses Ahead with COVID Vaccinations for Elderly

A teacher was told by her school that she must somehow find four unvaccinated individuals aged 60 or older and get them to take COVID shots to help boost the district’s elderly inoculation rate. Otherwise, her performance review would be affected.

“But (I) have online classes to teach… I can’t just leave my students and go looking for a needle in a haystack,” the teacher, who goes by the name Sherry, told Reuters.

Because some other individuals in her district had been given similar tasks by their employers, Sherry said she had to offer cash incentives from her own pocket to beat the competition to win over the elderly. She said she had spent nearly 1,000 yuan ($158) in total on two people she managed to get vaccinated.

% People Fully Vaccinated by Country – Top 15 Countries

Total Number of Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccination Doses Administered in China

Total Number of Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccination Doses Administered in China from December 15, 2020 to March 27, 2022.

At one stage 20 million people got vaccinated in a single day. As of March 27, 2022, China had administered about 3.25 billion doses of coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical companies Sinovac and Sinopharm. 

China’s Strict Zero-Covid Strategy

China’s Strict Zero-Covid Strategy is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. It includes:

• Regular community testing programmes are carried out and if infections are detected, residents can be evicted and sent to quarantine facilities (along with targeted area lockdowns)
• All non-essential businesses have been shut, apart from food shops and some other essential suppliers
• Schools are closed and public transport is suspended, with almost all vehicle movement banned.

In Conclusion

The world’s largest vaccination program and very few deaths from COVID. Regrettably this comes at a huge cost to the Chinese economy. The good news is that millions of lives are being saved.

Photo Gallery

Click image to enlarge and view in a carousel