China separating children from parents in pursuit of ‘Covid Zero’ strategy

If you thought Australia’s lockdown policies were harsh, take a look at what this country is doing to its citizens in pursuit of a Covid Zero strategy.

More than 25 million people are locked in their homes. The economy in Shanghai has ground to a halt.

While the rest of the world learns to live with Covid-19, extraordinary scenes are playing out in China’s second largest city – a city where streets are empty and those who disobey stay-at-home rules are arrested.

By far the most controversial of all the rules created to keep the virus at bay is one that has seen babies and young children separated from their parents.

Shanghai health officials have deemed anyone – regardless of age – who tests positive to Covid-19 should be isolated from non-infected people.

Workers stand by as residents are tested for the Covid-19 in Shanghai on April 4, 2022. Picture: Hector Retamal/AFP

It doesn’t matter if the person is a child or if they are asymptomatic.

Unverified videos of babies and young children in state-run wards have been widely shared.

The policy has understandably caused anxiety, frustration and outrage in the city which on Monday recorded 9000 new virus cases. That is the most it has recorded since the pandemic started.

The unbending virus controls have been defended by Chinese officials. Wu Qianyu, an official from the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, said on Monday that rules were rules and they were in place to keep the public safe, whatever the cost.

“If the child is younger than seven years old, those children will receive treatment in a public health centre,” she said.

“For older children or teenagers … we are mainly isolating them in centralised (quarantine) places.”

Residents stand on the rooftop of a building during the second stage of a Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai. Picture: Hector Retamal/AFP

Parents and guardians voiced their anger at the policy on social media platform Weibo.

“Parents need to meet ‘conditions’ to accompany their children? That’s absurd … it should be their most basic right,” one unnamed commenter wrote.

Mr Wu said the policy was integral to virus “prevention and control work”.

She added that children and parents who test positive would be able to stay together as a family.

Authorities initially promised not to lock down the whole city, instead targeting virus clusters with localised lockdowns of specific compounds or districts.

After weeks of growing case numbers, city officials last week gave a rare admission of failure of their tactics.

They introduced a two-stage lockdown, initially billed as lasting four days each to mass test both sides of the city.

A worker wearing protective gear sprays disinfectant on bags next to a building in Shanghai. Picture: Hector Retamal/AFP

Several days on, residents fear they are under a prolonged stay-at-home order by stealth, unable to exercise outside or walk dogs and with limited access to fresh food.

While the confinement was in theory set to be lifted on Tuesday, the Shanghai government’s official WeChat account said it would stay in place due to the high number of positive cases detected.

China’s zero-Covid strategy is under extreme pressure as the virus whips across the country, with another outbreak in the northeast.

Until March, China had successfully kept the daily caseload down to double or triple digits, with harsh localised lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions.

More than 38,000 health workers from 15 provinces have been sent to Shanghai to help fight the outbreak, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday, quoting the Ministry of Health.

On Monday, the nationwide caseload topped 13,000 for a second day as the daily infection tally hit rates unseen since mid-February 2020.

– With AFP