Faced with an upsurge in Covid-19 cases, Shanghai has been under strict confinement since 1is April, leading to difficulties for its 25 million inhabitants in terms of supply and access to healthcare. Faced with the growing discontent of the population, one of the most unpopular measures is however being reviewed: the Shanghai authorities will now allow parents to stay with their young children infected with Covid-19.
“Parents may accompany their children upon request, provided they sign a waiver stating that they ‘fully understand the health risks involved’”, the city’s municipal health inspector Wu Qianyu said at a press conference in Shanghai on Wednesday (April 6th), the official online media reports. Remmin Wang. However, parents “will have to wear a mask, eat separately, avoid sharing personal items and ‘strictly follow’ all aspects of the management system”, reports the site.
The decision to separate parents from their infected children sparked a wave of online protests, stoked by photos and videos showing crying children being held in medical wards, with no parents in sight. Beijing’s “zero Covid” strategy for preventing the pandemic – rigid, sometimes violent and lacking in humanity – was therefore in danger of being questioned as videos and comments flooded social networks, despite censorship. strict.
“Meeting the expectations of the population”
According to an editorial in the Beijing daily Xinjing Bao, change of rules “meets the expectations of the population” and “saves infected infants and children from being separated from their parents” :
“Perhaps more importantly, it once again shows the possibility of a reasonable compromise between compliance with established regulations and more humane accommodations in epidemic prevention.”
It’s rare to read open criticism of health policies, but this editorial seems to reflect a growing sense of public dissatisfaction:
“If we continue to take an honest approach, prioritizing the protection of people’s vital needs, respecting common sense and public opinion – while adhering to scientific measures – prevention policies can be continuously improved to meet society’s expectations, and thus be able to truly achieve the greatest prevention and control effect at the lowest cost.”
Since 1is March, the massive tests carried out in the coastal city revealed a total of more than 94,000 infections. According to the Hong Kong daily South China Morning Post, 17,007 new cases of contamination were detected in Shanghai on Wednesday April 6 – of which only 311 showed symptoms. The city requires that all people who test positive, even asymptomatic, be kept under observation in designated places, along with their close contacts, the newspaper said.