Chinese city under threat of new lockdown


Two months without restrictions and the threat of confinement already back for the city of Xi’an. Blame it on a flu epidemic.





By Martin Pereira for Le Point

The local authorities have indeed planned “the quarantine of the epidemic zone, the suspension of production and commercial activities” and “the suspension of work, the market and courses”. (illustrative image)
© REN CHAO/XINHUA/Xinhua via AFP

Premium Subscriber-only audio playback

I subscribe to 1€ the 1st month


Une flu epidemic, and the threat of a return confinement for a Chinese city. Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi province, is worried about an emergency plan, according to International mail. The country is facing an explosion in the number of flu cases. In one month, the contamination rate rose from 0.7% to 25.1%. Hence this prepared contingency plan. It contains four levels of interventions. It’s the first two that are worrying.

The local authorities have indeed planned “the quarantine of the epidemic zone, the suspension of production and commercial activities” and “the suspension of work, the market and courses”. What arouse concern and indignation. “If every wave of influenza must now lead to containment [de la population], isn’t this a return to the old ways? ask Chinese Internet users. Tang Renwu, director of the Institute of Government Management at Beijing Normal University, tries to reassure him in the Singaporean media Lianhe Zaobao. According to him, local authorities fear a new epidemic of the magnitude of Covid-19. He calls on local authorities to be careful with official documents, to avoid any panic.

READ ALSOPutin, Xi Jinping, Erdogan: hands down Africa

Demonstrations against health policy

The public forces must have the November demonstrations in mind. The Chinese had taken to the streets to protest against the zero Covid policy introduced by the state, a rare proof of hostility against Xi Jinping. Discontent stoked by several high-profile cases in which the emergency services would have been slowed down in their interventions by health restrictions, with fatal consequences. A fire that killed ten people in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province (northwest), has exacerbated these recriminations.


The editorial staff of Le Point advises you



Source link -82