What’s Wrong with the Shanghai Lockdown?

In April 2022, here in Shanghai, we are now in the midst of a “lockdown” that will likely go down in history. In China, which has a zero-corona policy, if even one person is found to be infected, restaurants and shopping malls visited by that person within the past two weeks will be locked down. Those who have come into close contact with the disease will also be quarantined at the facility or hotel.

Due to such extremely strict measures, which would be unthinkable in Japan, Shanghai, which until now has had almost no cases of coronavirus infection, suddenly began to see a large number of infected people in February of this year. Many facilities around the city have been locked down, and in some cases, the offices where an infected person was working was suddenly locked down, forcing the people to spend two weeks in the office.

Even so, the number of infected people continued to increase, and at the end of March, the government suddenly issued an announcement that the entire Shanghai area would be locked down. The lockdown officially began on March 28th in the eastern area and on April 1st in the western area, and the simultaneous PCR testing of 25 million Shanghai residents began. (The population of Tokyo is approximately 14 million, so the scale of the measures taken is quite large by comparison.)

When the coronavirus began to spread around the world, many countries also implemented lockdowns or similar policies. In Japan, a state of emergency was declared several times. In this article, I would like to summarize from my own experience why the whole world is paying attention to the Shanghai lockdown and making such a fuss about it. (Please note that this is not from a political or economic point of view, but from the perspective from a one of Shanghai resident.)

Complete forbidding to go out and shutdown of lifelines

First of all, what is fundamentally different from the measures taken in Japan, such as the declaration of a state of emergency, is that, instead of suspending the operation of restaurants, etc., people are basically not allowed to go out even for a single step, except for those who have received special permission from the government.

Due to this thorough blockade procedure, restaurants, as well as supermarkets, convenience stores, and other stores that are the lifelines of daily life, are not open for business as usual. In normal times, delivery services are very active and convenient in Shanghai, but normal services are almost unavailable. In other words, food and water are not available. In this desperate situation, Shanghai residents who initially made do with what they had hoarded before the lockdown are beginning to run out of that stock, and their frustration is exploding.

However, logistics have not completely stopped, and some vendors are barely receiving and shipping only large orders. Some companies are barely able to ship large orders (for example, orders of at least 50,000 yen), so a lot of people have managed to replenish their supplies by creating a group chat among residents of the condominiums and making joint purchases there.

The end is not in sight at all

The next thing that is chipping away at the hearts of Shanghai’s citizens is this endless situation. According to the original announcement by the Shanghai municipal government, the lockdown was supposed to last for four days. However, it was never lifted after that, and eventually, as of 4/23, the situation has not improved in most areas.

As of 4/9, there was an announcement that each condominium group with zero positive results in the PCR test would be released, but only a few condominiums have actually been released, and if even one positive person is found in a condominium group (it would be better to imagine a large scale condominium like an apartment complex in Japan), the quarantine In addition, the quarantine period is extended for 14 days if there is even one positive case in a group of condominiums, so it is hopeless to be released if the number of residents is large and the number of infected people continues to increase.

The condominium in which I live is a small hotel-type condominium, so the number of residents is small and there have been no positive cases for a long time, but even so, I do not know when I will be released, and there is no end in sight.

The poor environment of quarantine facilities

Another thing that is stirring up anxiety of Shanghai citizens about infection is the transportation of infected people to a quarantine facility. When a person is confirmed to be infected with coronavirus in Shanghai, he or she is forcibly transported to this quarantine facility, but there are rumors on Social media that the environment of this facility is extremely poor.

The facility is like a large gymnasium, where a large number of beds are simply laid out, regardless of gender, and where privacy is not guaranteed. This is a blessing in disguise, since it is said that recently there have been many cases where the quarantine facility has been overwhelmed and the positive cases are left at home in condominiums.

Accumulating distrust against the Shanghai municipal government

My Chinese teacher is a native Shanghainese. When I talk with her online, it is easy to tell that she is under a lot of stress. She mentioned many times that she was disappointed with the Shanghai municipal government in response to the above situation.

Shanghai is now a metropolis that can be considered the center of the world; it is a cool city with remarkable IT development and a buzz of business that outstrips that of the world’s developed countries. Even after the corona pandemic, the citizens have continued to enjoy a comfortable life, albeit with some restrictions, thanks to thorough zero-corona measures. Who would have imagined that the people in Shanghai would encounter food shortages? In China, a socialistic country, true civil liberties do not exist. It is very unfortunate that we are now in a situation where we have no choice but to think so.