Zero-covid policy: China puts millions into metal box quarantine
Whole localities are sent into quarantine in China using force if someone is
symptomatic of covid. The quarantines are metal boxes set up in far away
camps. The authoritarian regime is resorting to draconian methods to check a
new wave of the epidemic in the country that has already locked down three
cities currently. On the other hand, the US presents a contrasting scenario
where in the name freedom large sections of people refuse vaccination and
assault health workers who mandate the covid restrictions.
BEIJING, Jan 13: China, following a zero-covid policy since the very outbreak
of the pandemic in Wuhan in December 2019, is quarantining people with suspected
symptoms in metal boxes lined up in camps each furnished with a wooden bed and
toilet. Children, the elderly and pregnant women, without exception, are being
forced to stay in these small boxes for 14 to 21 days.
Very harsh rules are imposed on those found infected. All the residents of
any locality where even a single person is reported symptomatic, are also transported
to far away camps in buses by force as the country is facing a recrudescence
of the pandemic in many provinces.
The horrible sights of those quarantine camps are appearing in social media
videos.
About 20 million people have been detained in quarantine centres across the
country, according to reports, especially as a precaution in view of the forthcoming
Lunar New Year and the Winter Olympics next month.
After Xian and Tianjin, Anyang became the third city to be placed under lockdown
on Wednesday, confining almost 20 million people to their homes in order to
prevent the spread of the disease, AFP reported.