Deaths of children, bus accident and more: The many horrors of China’s zero-COVID policy

Protesters in China have stormed the streets in what is one of the most widespread dissents against the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in decades.

A fire that killed 10 people in an apartment building in the north-western city of Urumqi catapulted these recent protests over the weekend.

Strict lockdown rules were blamed for hindering rescue efforts, but Chinese authorities have denied these claims. As per BBC, several videos of residents purportedly screaming and requesting to be let out spread online, which added fuel to the agitation.

Urumqi, western Xinjiang’s capital, has been under strict COVID-19 curbs since August with people locked in their homes for weeks on end, reported BBC.

According to AFP report, Urumqi residents will only be allowed to travel on buses for errands within their home districts from Tuesday. Some restrictions will be eased in Urumqi, the officials have said following the nationwide protests.

Essential businesses in “low-risk” areas can apply to reopen at 50 per cent capacity, and public transport and flights will be “resuming in an orderly manner”, BBC cited officials as saying.

Despite its zero-COVID policy, China is reporting a record number of daily cases. On Monday (27 November), as many as 40,347 new infections were logged in the country, Reuters cited National Health Commission data.

Even though China’s fresh cases are low compared to global figures during coronavirus surges, the authorities have called for a “war of annihilation” against the virus. New restrictions have been imposed across various cities after the first COVID-19 deaths in six months were reported last week.

This recent deadly fire incident in Urumqi is among the latest horror that has led to public outrage against Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy which includes snap lockdowns, travel restrictions, mass testing and quarantines.

What other recent mishaps have caused dissent to grow among Chinese citizens against the harsh zero-COVID policy? We take a look.

ALSO READ: Rise of the People: As COVID protests spread, a brief history of rare acts of dissent in China

Deaths of children

Earlier in November, a four-month-old girl died in central China which led to people expressing anger on social media over the stringent COVID restrictions.

According to The Guardian report, the baby died after suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea when she was in quarantine at a hotel in Zhengzhou city.

Li Baoliang, the father of the baby, took to Weibo — a Twitter-like platform in China — to relay his tragic story.

Li and his four-month-old daughter were isolated in a hotel on 12 November, after his wife tested positive.

Two days later, after his daughter vomited continuously Li called an emergency hotline but the medical personnel refused her treatment. As she was not COVID-19 positive, they said it was not an urgent case, The Guardian reported.

The child was eventually taken to a hospital but was not treated immediately. She was declared dead the next day.

An investigation was launched into the incident by the Zhengzhou Municipal Health Commission.

Angry internet users rebuked the COVID curbs over the death of the baby. “How many deaths have there been due to delayed healthcare?” one asked.

“It’s not the virus that kills people, but excessive epidemic prevention measures,” another Weibo user said, as per BBC.

In early November, BBC reported that a three-year-old boy in western China’s Lanzhou died after a lockdown delayed a potentially life-saving treatment. As per the police, the boy died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The boy’s father – Tuo Shilei – told BBC that he could not get his son out of their residential compound for more than an hour after he lost consciousness following a gas leak. The ambulance did not arrive on time and he had to take the boy himself to the hospital.

“My son’s cause of death was an accident, but during the whole process of our call for help, there was avoidance of responsibility and dereliction of duty. The pandemic control went too far,” Tuo was quoted as saying by BBC.

In October, a 14-year-old girl’s death in China sparked fury. The family of Guo Jingjing claimed that she died two days after being taken to a COVID quarantine centre in Ruzhou, Henan province.

BBC reported that her father, Guo Lele, said in a video that Jingjing began to “convulse” and “shake”, but the centre did not provide any treatment even as her condition worsened.

“Health workers at the centre took no care of her, no one even inquired,” the father had said, as per BBC.

Bus accident

At least 27 people died and another 20 were injured after a bus transporting residents to a quarantine facility crashed in southwest China’s Guizhou province in September.

According to Guiyang’s deputy mayor, the bus was transporting 47 people who were under “medical observation” from Guiyang, Guizhou province’s capital, to Libo, a remote county, Voice of America reported.

The accident had led to an outburst of people against China’s COVID zero strategy.

“27 people, who did not die in the coronavirus, but died in the bus accident [on the way to] quarantine? Even if they are positive, the death rate of the virus is extremely low, who made such a tragedy?” a furious user wrote.

“No ordinary people are against epidemic prevention. What the ordinary people oppose is … harassment of people,” said another, as per Voice of America.

ALSO READ: Wordplay, blank signs, music: How is China voicing its dissent against the zero-COVID policy?

More tragedies

Earlier this month, a 32-year-old woman killed herself in a quarantine centre in Guangzhou after she tested positive for COVID-19 and was separated from her husband, financial publication Caixin had reported. According to The Guardian, Caixin’s report was soon removed from social media in the Asian nation.

In November, a woman reportedly suffered a miscarriage after she was not allowed to leave her compound which was under lockdown in Chongqing’s Jiulongpo district. As per South China Morning Post, the authorities assured they will “investigate and punish those involved according to law”.

In September, shock and anger spread online after videos emerged of some residents not being allowed to leave their compounds due to a lockdown in the earthquake-hit city of Chengdu.

According to BBC, some people claimed they were asked to remain inside when a 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck the city. Some also said that the exits were shut due to COVID-19 curbs.

At least 65 people had died due to the temblor. However, no fatalities from the earthquake were linked to the restrictions on compounds, BBC reported.

During the rigid two-month Shanghai lockdown that began in April, people suffered food shortages and thousands of elderly were affected due to the strict curbs.

With supermarkets shut and courier services stopped, residents of the financial hub of China had a hard time. Elderly people who tested positive had to forcibly go to quarantine centres, which sometimes even lacked basic sanitation, as per BBC.

With inputs from agencies

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