Shanghai residents yesterday fought with police over plans to open quarantine facilities near their homes, underscoring burgeoning anger over the Chinese government’s handling of its worst COVID-19 outbreak since the disease’s initial outbreak in Wuhan.
People living at the Nashi community in Shanghai’s east tried to stop workers in hazmat suits from erecting fencing around several buildings that have units similar to serviced apartments, several people with knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity.
Now-censored clips showed scores of police dragging away protesters worried that they could catch the virus from people who moved into the buildings.
Photo: AFP
Officers can be seen trying to push angry people back, some of whom are screaming and shouting: “Police are beating us.”
The company that manages the community said that “relevant departments” handled the matter, an apparent reference to police.
The firm added that it was acting on government orders to carry out COVID-19 control work and that residents were compensated for moving.
Anger has mounted over a lack of food, medical supplies, information on when their ordeal would end and freedom to step outside. Some families have been awoken late at night by health workers in hazmat suits, shouting over loudspeakers that they must assemble outside for COVID-19 testing.
Several instances of public indignation have appeared on Chinese social media, only to be blocked by authorities worried that unrest could spread.
Videos of the fighting at the Nashi community have disappeared from Sina Weibo, and a search using the hashtag of the neighborhood’s name yields no results.
The Shanghai outbreak, involving the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, is straining the government’s ability to enforce Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) demand that cities be totally free of the virus.
Shanghai posted a record of more than 27,700 new cases on Wednesday, although the figure dipped to about 23,000 on Thursday.
The vast majority of the cases were mild or asymptomatic.
Shanghai has been scrambling to build isolation facilities. It has converted many of its exhibition halls, indoor stadiums and schools into quarantine centers. Upscale hotels have been told to hand over rooms.
Officials took over five buildings in the Nashi neighborhood last month, although residents said there was little complaint because the towers were out of the way.
Officials went back on Tuesday, telling residents that they would take over nine more buildings, and tenants had to be out that day.
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