Are lockdowns coming back to China?

Mar 10, 2023 - 21:30

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Lockdowns might come back to haunt China. Are coronavirus cases on the rise again? Not really. It’s the flu that has put authorities on alert with the northern city of Xi’an proposing a COVID-19-like shutdown.

Xi’an threatens lockdown

Xi’an, which is home to 13 million people and known for Terracotta Warriors, may return to lockdowns as part of its plan to contain rising cases of influenza. On Wednesday, Xi’an issued an emergency notice to local authorities which permitted them to shut schools, businesses and entertainment centres in case of an outbreak. The city will lock down areas “when necessary” if there is a “severe threat”.

While coronavirus cases are on the wane, flu cases have surged across China. Supplies of anti-viral medicines are running low at both brick-and-mortar and online pharmacies.

In December 2021, Xi’an in China’s northern Shaanxi province was locked down because of the pandemic. People were not allowed to step out even if they needed essentials. AFP

Outrage on social media

Amid this, the notice in Xi’an has sparked outrage among locals with many calling the plan “excessive”. It has brought back memories of the one-month COVID-induced lockdown in December 2021 when residents were banned from leaving their houses, even to buy food and basic supplies.

The possibility of the lockdown in Xi’an saw people seething on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social network. “Is it not enough to torture people last year, that we are thinking of doing it again and again,” asked one user, according to a report in Bloomberg.

People pointed out that influenza outbreaks were common before COVID-19 and life went on. Another added some local governments were “addicted to sealing and controlling,” reports BBC.

A woman receives a flu vaccine at a health centre in Lianyungang, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province on 10 March. AFP

The flu scare

Cases of flu are leaving many people sick in China. In the latest weekly epidemic report released by the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention on 22 February, the number of reported cases of influenza topped the list, the first time this year that the coronavirus has fallen from the top spot, reports Global Times.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the reason for the rise in influenza infections in China since February is related to the simultaneous transmission of two influenza A virus subtypes.

Several schools across China have suspended classes as children fell sick and there was a shortage of antiviral medication.

Closures of schools to contain flu outbreaks are common in China and Hong Kong. File photo/Reuters

However, Xi’an’s notice is not out of the ordinary for local governments in China. They often come up with a plan of action to control flu strains which could spread quickly. The details laid out by Xi’an reflect similar guidance issued before Covid — and the struggle to contain it — emerged, reports Bloomberg.

A four-level response system has been chalked out by municipal authorities keeping in mind the severity of the situation. When the community spread reaches acute levels threatening public health officials can seal areas with outbreaks and close businesses, schools, and restaurants.

In 2015, the Shanghai government warned that it may stop classes, shut offices and impose restrictions on gatherings in case of a severe influenza epidemic, reports the BBC. The word lockdown had not entered our everyday lexicon then.

“To local residents who were traumatised by the lockdown measures not long ago, the return to the same draconian method in coping with flu outbreaks is by no means justified,” Huang Yanzhong, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, told the BBC.

Xi’an is not the only city with such plans. According to Tang Renwu, dean of Beijing Normal University’s School of Government, China wants to contain the seasonal flu and local governments might have a similar action plan to Xi’an. However, he says it is unlikely that the country will see stringent policies like the ones imposed during the pandemic make a comeback.

The BBC quotes Prof Tang telling a Singapore newspaper that local governments “should pay attention to their wording when issuing similar documents so as not to trigger social panic”.

China abruptly abandoned the zero-COVID policy in December. Last year, its economy grew at the second-slowest rate in almost 50 years as the businesses were hit because of strict restrictions. Any more closures could only spell doom for the country.

With inputs from agencies

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