China COVID Lockdown

Logan Antio

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China has recently implemented a lockdown amongst nearly 65 million people in the country, following recent COVID outbreaks. There are 33 cities (seven being provincial capitals) under these restrictions due to China’s zero-COVID policy. Within this policy attempts are made to prevent the spread of COVID, neighborhoods are sealed off, and citizens are strictly locked down and mass tested. Households are only permitted to have one person leave to collect their essential groceries. With these rules in place, China keeps its borders closed to foreign travelers.

Because of these lockdown measures, citizens have faced struggles such as the lack of food and medicine. Many families have struggled with food shortages since the beginning of these restrictions. According to the Guardian newspaper, pregnant women have been sent home from a hospital that was closing. A woman and her newborn baby were denied re-entry to their residence after giving birth at a hospital. The hospitals are denying lots of people. An elderly man who had been vomiting blood was also denied entrance after arriving at a hospital's emergency department.

Even with these extreme conditions throughout China, the mega-city Chengdu has extended its lockdown, which started on September 1. Not only have Chengdu citizens faced problems like power cuts and food shortages during these lockdown periods, but they have also undergone an earthquake that caused 65 deaths, creating an even bigger hardship for the people of this region.