Political | Process

Chinese authorities initially planned a phased lockdown in the eastern and western parts of the city, a measure that was extended city-wide indefinitely as cases continue to rise to unseen levels in Shanghai. A record 21,000 positive cases were registered on April 8 as the city ramped up its mass testing program.

Like everyone else I know here in Shanghai, our apartment community is closed because of Covid, with no one allowed in or out

We were all (6,000+) required to test yesterday and again today. Yesterday was batch testing groups of 4 with mouth swabs, today groups of 10 with nose pic.twitter.com/7afRu1kHns

Some people have been completely barred from leaving their homes to gather supplies for more than two weeks. The logistics of locking down the country’s largest city and keeping its residents fed are proving to be difficult. Videos shared on Chinese social networks have shown people in desperation, complaining of lack of food and medical care.

When people start to bang their pots and scream “ we want supplies” you know its not the Shanghai you used to know. #shanghai #lockdown pic.twitter.com/aAGVZRwhGh

There are much, much more cases than at the peak in Wuhan [Editor’s note: during the initial outbreak in 2020]. This is extreme in terms of numbers, but actually, the cases are mainly Omicron. So the gravity of the situation isn’t that bad, but the government wasn’t sure how far it was going to go.

They are still abiding by the Zero-Covid policy. They are using a 2020 method for the 2022 virus. And the situation that they’re putting people into is quite serious.

In my compound, there is no virus at all – no positive case. We’re taking tests every two days. No one knows what we’re defending against because there are basically no cases.

As seen on Weibo: Shanghai residents go to their balconies to sing & protest lack of supplies. A drone appears: “Please comply w covid restrictions. Control your soul’s desire for freedom. Do not open the window or sing.” https://t.co/0ZTc8fznaV pic.twitter.com/pAnEGOlBIh

The shops are not open outside and this is a very tech-savvy city: we have a lot of apps where you can buy groceries, but nothing is there. There is almost no food supply anymore online. It’s either a shortage of delivery people or a shortage of food. A lot of people get up at 6am to look for food but they can’t get any. Yesterday, there were two old people in my building who asked me to give them rice because they didn’t have any more at home and they are going to starve to death. So I gave them rice. It’s not that they’re running out of money – it’s that you can’t buy anything.

Grocery delivery services have been overwhelmed by demand, in addition to dealing with a lack of delivery personnel, many of whom are themselves locked down.