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The Shanghai government is under pressure to quickly provide food to the population.
Shanghai residents say they are short of food during the largest Covid outbreak ever recorded in the Chinese city.
The inhabitants are confined to their homes and it is forbidden to go out even for essential reasonshow to shop.
Nearly 20,000 new cases were reported in China’s largest city on Thursday, almost a new record.
Officials admit the city is facing “hardship” but say they are trying to fix it.
But public anger is also being fueled by other drastic measures, such as separate children from parents if they test positive.
Shanghai officials responded by allowing parents who were also infected to accompany their children to isolation centers.
However, according to a Reuters report, there are still complaints of children separated from their parents who have not tested positive for covid.
image source, Getty Images
All premises must be regularly tested for COVID, as ordered by the municipality.
The city on Wednesday began another round of mass tests required identify and isolate each case.
Shanghai residents testing positive they cannot isolate themselves in their homes, even if their conditions are mild or asymptomatic.
They have to go to mandatory quarantine facilities that critics say are overcrowded and in poor condition.
Why is there a shortage of food?
When ómicron first appeared in Shanghai a month ago, the city quarantined only a few buildings or housing groups.
Faced with the spread of the virus, authorities implemented a staggered closure last week in which the city was split in two and each half took separate measures.
The closure was extended indefinitely on Monday and now it covers the whole city of 25 million population.
The strict rules mean that most people have to ask for food and water and wait for the government to deliver vegetables, meat and eggs.
But the extension of the abrum closureOh delivery servicesgrocery store websites and even statewide distribution of supplies.
image source, Getty Images
Shanghai’s 25 million residents are confined to their homes in prolonged quarantine.
Much of the distribution and delivery personnel are also located in closed areas, which leads to a general decrease in delivery capacity.
Locals in some areas of the city claim to be completely isolated.
“Resolve the problem of insufficient delivery capacity as soon as possible,” wrote a user on the Weibo social network in response to a video message from the city authorities.
Another person wrote that it was the “first time” in his life that he was “hungry”.
image source, Getty Images
Construction workers have to take delivery orders for residents.
Residents also expressed other concerns about the price increase and how they survive older or less tech-savvy residents.
City officials acknowledged the food shortages Wednesday, saying Shanghai had sufficient supplies of rice, noodles, cereals, oil and meat, but there were delays in their distribution.
“It is true that there are some difficulties in ensuring the supply of daily necessities,” said Liu Min, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.
Shanghai Deputy Mayor Chen Tong added Thursday that the city would try reopen some wholesale markets and grocery storesand would allow more delivery personnel to get out of closed areas.
“We held meetings overnight to try and find solutions,” Chen said.
image source, Getty Images
China is one of the last remaining nations committed to eradicating covid, in contrast to most of the world trying to live with the virus.
The country has already successfully implemented the full blockade, endured by millions of people in cities like Xi’an and Wuhan, but Shanghai is its largest city and the prevalence of cases this time is much higher than in previous outbreaks.
As one of China’s economic powers, the Shanghai bloc is also fueling concerns about the impact on the country and the world economy.
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