The Shocking (Ongoing) Shanghai Lockdown

Residents of Shanghai, China are now in a full-blown lockdown. It was supposed to last 48 hours. Its been seven weeks. It’s the Chinese Communist Party’s version of 14 days to stop the spread.

This news story has gone largely unreported in the United States. But, back on March 5th residents of China’s largest city were ordered to “shelter in place” for 48 hours as a large yellow barrier was constructed around the city to restrain residents. It’s all a part of China’s dynamic zero Covid-19 policy.

The government feared the latest Covid variant might spark another explosion of cases in the city of 26 million people. Shanghai is somewhere in between the size of Texas and Florida.

Meanwhile, seven weeks into the 48 hour lockdown, cases are soaring. See, in Shanghai most people live in large, high-rise apartment buildings. During these lockdowns, the building superintendent has the ability to set “local” rules. Rules like whether you can step outside your apartment or take your dog into the courtyard.

Earlier today, Reuters reported that the government is instituted a new, “hard quarantine”. It’s installing green fencing around certain apartment buildings to keep people inside. You can watch this video here.

In order to enforce daily testing and confinement rules, the government called in large numbers of military soldiers. The locals have dubbed them “whites” since they all wear full full P-4 hazmat suits.

Starving in China’s Wealthiest City

With the city in complete lockdown, residents are trapped in their buildings. They are not allowed to lock their doors. Many are struggling to feed themselves and to find medicine for sick family members. Most are relying on food delivery, but all of those services are overwhelmed.

To keep people from starving, the government has started delivering bags of food, where available. Most include noodles, vegetables and cans of Spam. That’s right, Spam. More on that later. Many residents have started stealing food from neighbors just to survive.

Humanitarian Nightmare

The complete lockdown is resulting in a humanitarian nightmare. After weeks of confinement people have reached their breaking point. It’s a mental health disaster. If you have a strong stomach, watch this video of various citizens jumping to their deaths from high rise balconies.

With everything in complete lock down, all commerce in the city has stopped. That includes e-commerce. According to the Wall Street Journal that system has completely collapsed on itself. Many have turned to bartering of essential supplies to meet their needs. For example one family exchanged three oranges for a roll of toilet paper. Apparently the hottest item in the barter trade game is Spam. It turns out that the Chinese love Spam. Who knew?

Many of Shanghai’s citizens who are elderly or disabled are relying solely on the kindness of strangers to meet their needs. According to a friend in China, the government is not allowing family members to care for elderly parents. So, many of the elderly are going without help from caregivers.

If you think none of this will impact you, think again. Here’s a map of all the container ships waiting to unload at the port of Shanghai. In about 30 days you aren’t gonna be able to find anything you want on Amazon.

Positive Results

But, before you start to feel sorry for the people locked up in Shanghai eating government Spam, wait until you hear what happens if you test positive. Those citizens who test positive are quickly shuttled away on government buses. Each person is sent to a makeshift quarantine center. Each center is divided into about 1,000 cubicles and residents are restricted to their 8×10 space. There are no showers, only sinks used for washing.

Children are forcibly separated from their parents. One video surfaced showing a room full of toddlers left unattended.

There are over 300,000 adults and children who have been locked up indefinitely.

The lockdown is spreading. According to The Wall Street Journal, forty-five cities that account for roughly 40% of China’s economic output have implemented either full or partial lockdowns.

Starving Pets

In one of the most disturbing displays of violence, government officials are killing family pets. Apparently if you test positive, your pets are are seized and euthanized to keep them from spreading the virus. The images on Twitter are so disturbing that I refuse to post them. One shows mesh bags of live cats stacked on the street like garbage bags. If you have a very strong stomach, click here.

Apparently those testing positive are letting their pets go stray to avoid mandatory euthanasia. The pets now wander the streets, starving. The animals have started to take matters into their own paws. It’s gut wrenching. You better have a really strong stomach to watch this clip.

In one case an entire family is taken away to a quarantine center in a government bus. The family’s pet Corgi chased the bus. A government “white” caught the corgi and beat it to death with a shovel. See video here.

Yet, despite growing anger, there are few signs that the authorities are going to change course. The food and medicine shortage is the most pressing issue. The government simply did not have the proper logistics and supply chains in place before the lockdown. The lack of food is leading to pressure to relax the restrictions. But, government officials are fully aware that relaxing the restrictions will lead to an increase in the rate of infection. And, that just won’t stand. See, the Chinese government’s insistence on zero Covid is mostly an exercise in demonstrating the power of the Chinese Communist Party. It’s about showing the world that the Chinese way of governing is superior to other forms of representative democracy.

The United States is divided into two camps over this Covid-19 lockdown stuff. Half of us think this US should be locked down like Shanghai. The other half thinks we never should have masked or vaccinated. Which side are you on? I’d like to hear from you-and I promise you’ll hear back from me.

And, please do me a favor and forward this article to a few friends who might want to join the debate.

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