Chinese authorities issued an apology on Thursday, November 3, following the death of a three-year-old child who was deprived of care due to draconian health measures against Covid-19.
This so-called zero-Covid policy leads to solitary confinement as soon as positive cases occur, to massive screenings, but also to more or less pronounced neighborhoods or even entire cities.
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food shortage
Many residents complain about these unexpected measures, which sometimes lead to food shortages and make it difficult for those in need to access healthcare. Viral images on social media on Tuesday showed residents of Lanzhou (northwest) desperately trying to revive a child after suffering carbon monoxide poisoning.
In a message, his father had complained about the slowness of aid and being unable to leave his residence due to the city’s confinement. Local residents vented their anger. Local police released a detailed report on the events on Thursday and offered their “sincere condolences” to the parents.
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“sincere condolences”
“We sincerely accept the criticism and scrutiny of the media and netizens (…) to prevent such accidents from happening again,” the Lanzhou police wrote in unusual regret. The case had attracted attention earlier in the week with a storm of online messages against the inflexible zero-Covid policy.
“Three years of pandemic was his whole life,” wrote one surfer, referring to the age of the child named Tuo. This incident is the latest in a series of health emergencies hampered by Covid Zero. Last month, the death of a 14-year-old girl who was in need of care in quarantine sparked outrage across the country.
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Internet censors quickly removed any reference to the incident. In January, a pregnant woman miscarried at the door of a hospital in Xi’an (north) because there was no valid PCR test.