The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Korea walks fine line between US, China in chip war

  • 3

    ChatGPT: boon or bane for banking industry?

  • 5

    Man arrested for opening airplane emergency exit during flight

  • 7

    Labor unions seek to attract migrant workers at shipyards

  • 9

    Asiana stops selling A321-200 emergency seats after man opened aircraft door mid-air

  • 11

    ENHYPEN reaches new career high with latest album 'Dark Blood'

  • 13

    Anticipated Korean blockbusters to check out this summer

  • 15

    Chun Woo-hee becomes chameleon con artist in 'Delightfully Deceitful'

  • 17

    Gov't moves to assist 3,400 Koreans stranded in typhoon-hit Guam

  • 19

    LG Electronics expands social contribution in Middle East, Africa

  • 2

    Jeju-based shamanism researcher documents connection between humans, crows

  • 4

    SHINee celebrates 15th anniversary of debut: 'It feels surreal'

  • 6

    Arrest warrant issued for man who opened plane door mid-air

  • 8

    Half of medical tourists visiting Korea inspired by K-culture

  • 10

    Hyundai Steel receives EPD certification for low-carbon H-beam products

  • 12

    RAS KOREAPreserving memories at Cheongju City Archives

  • 14

    Korea eyes launch of 4th Nuri space rocket in 2025

  • 16

    Mirae Asset holds ETF Rally 2023 for global expansion

  • 18

    Yoon, first lady star on TV show with adopted dog

  • 20

    POSCO named sustainability champion for 2nd consecutive year

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
Tue, May 30, 2023 | 13:42
Asia
Shanghai residents question human cost of China's COVID quarantines
Posted : 2022-04-10 19:52
Updated : 2022-04-11 00:01
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
Residents line up for nucleic acid testing at a residential area, during the second stage of a two-stage lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Shanghai, China, April 4. Reuters-Yonhap
Residents line up for nucleic acid testing at a residential area, during the second stage of a two-stage lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Shanghai, China, April 4. Reuters-Yonhap

Lu, 99, was a long-time resident at Shanghai's Donghai Elderly Care hospital, her loved ones secure that she was getting round-the-clock care at the city's largest such center.

That was before COVID-19 struck China's biggest city last month, the country's worst outbreak of the pandemic, infecting multiple patients, doctors and care workers at the 1,800-bed facility.

Orderlies posted cries for help on social media, saying they were overwhelmed. Relatives told Reuters that there had been several deaths.

Lu, whose relatives asked that she be identified only by her surname, had coronary heart disease and high blood pressure. She caught COVID and, though she had no symptoms, was being transferred to an isolation facility, her family was told on March 25.

She died there seven days later, the cause of death listed as her underlying medical conditions, her granddaughter said.

Among the questions she has about Lu's final days was why elderly patients had to be quarantined separately, away from the care workers most familiar with their conditions under China's quarantine rules.

Her frustrations reflect those of many with China's no-tolerance COVID policy. Everyone testing positive must quarantine in specialized isolation sites, whether they show symptoms or not.

Shanghai has become a test case for the country's strict policy. Home quarantine is not an option and, until public outrage prompted a change, Shanghai was separating COVID-positive children from their parents.

From March 1 to April 9, China's financial hub reported some 180,000 locally transmitted infections, 96% of which were asymptomatic. It reported no deaths for the period.

A Donghai staffer who answered the phone on Sunday declined to answer questions, directing Reuters to another department, which did not respond to repeated calls.

Asked for comment, the Shanghai government sent a local media report with a first-person account of life at one of the quarantine centers.

The unidentified author said he wanted to dispel fears that such sites were terrible, saying he received ample meals and medicine but recommending people bring earplugs and eye masks.

The authorities did not offer further comment.

The United States has raised concerns about China's COVID approach, advising its citizens on Friday to reconsider travel to China "due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws and COVID-19 restrictions." Beijing dismissed the U.S. concerns as "groundless accusations".

When Lu was being quarantined, the family asked, "Who is going to care for her? Will there be care workers, doctors?," her granddaughter said. "My grandmother is not someone who can live independently.

"If the care worker had COVID and no symptoms, why couldn't they stay together?," she said. "The chaos and tragedies happening in Shanghai this time really boil down to cruel policies."

A relative of Donghai patient Shen Peiying, who gave his surname as Qiu, said he believes the quarantine policy contributed to the April 3 death of the bedridden 72-year-old.

She had not caught COVID, he said, citing test records he saw on China's health app. After weeks of little communication, staff rang to say Shen had died from a chest infection.

Qiu has refused to consent to her cremation, citing such unanswered questions as what care she received after her regular care worker was quarantined.

"If they were all in quarantine, who was there to take care of the patients?," Qiu said.

Shanghai is doubling down on the quarantine policy, converting schools, recently finished apartment blocks and vast exhibition halls into centers, the largest of which can hold 50,000 people.

These steps, including sending patients to quarantine sites in neighboring provinces, have been greeted by the public with a mixture of awe at their speed and horror over conditions, prompting some Shanghai residents to call for home quarantine to be allowed.

While Chinese state media has shown hospitals with just two or three patients per room, patients like those sent to Shanghai's giant exhibition centers say they live side by side with thousands of strangers, without walls or showers and with ceiling lights on at all hours.

Videos on Chinese social media have shown hastily converted quarantine sites, including a ramshackle vacant factory where a number of camping beds were placed, a site made out of shipping containers and a school with a poster saying blankets and hot water were not available.

A source verified the first video. Reuters could not independently verify the others.

Management of such sites has been a concern.

One viral video last week showed patients at a site called the Nanhui makeshift hospital fighting for supplies. Reuters could not reach the facility on Sunday for comment.

Among those posting on social media was Shanghai resident Li Tong, who asked for help after his wife was sent there. He said things got better when more staff arrived to organise the patients but that he was shocked by what the videos showed and what his wife told him.

"I didn't dare believe it, that Shanghai in 2022 could be like this," he said. (Reuters)



 
wooribank
Top 10 Stories
1Korea eyes launch of 4th Nuri space rocket in 2025 Korea eyes launch of 4th Nuri space rocket in 2025
2Memorial Day 2023 Memorial Day 2023
3Japanese destroyer flies controversial flag as it arrives in Korea for joint drillJapanese destroyer flies controversial flag as it arrives in Korea for joint drill
4Korea's household debt-to-GDP ratio highest among 34 major economiesKorea's household debt-to-GDP ratio highest among 34 major economies
5[ANALYSIS] China's ban on Micron tests Washington-Seoul alliance ANALYSISChina's ban on Micron tests Washington-Seoul alliance
6Seoul on alert over Pyongyang's imminent spy satellite launch Seoul on alert over Pyongyang's imminent spy satellite launch
7Top 20% of income earners fuel increase in Q1 consumption as pandemic ends Top 20% of income earners fuel increase in Q1 consumption as pandemic ends
8Korea's diplomacy put to test amid signs of thaw in US-China relations Korea's diplomacy put to test amid signs of thaw in US-China relations
9Vietnam emerges as major market for Korean chipmakers Vietnam emerges as major market for Korean chipmakers
10Local governments appeal to young generations through YouTube Local governments appeal to young generations through YouTube
Top 5 Entertainment News
1SHINee celebrates 15th anniversary of debut: 'It feels surreal' SHINee celebrates 15th anniversary of debut: 'It feels surreal'
2ENHYPEN reaches new career high with latest album 'Dark Blood' ENHYPEN reaches new career high with latest album 'Dark Blood'
3'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' raises bar with epic battle scenes 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' raises bar with epic battle scenes
4[INTERVIEW] Long-awaited extension of Korean Pavilion at Venice Biennale to be pushed forward INTERVIEWLong-awaited extension of Korean Pavilion at Venice Biennale to be pushed forward
5Chun Woo-hee becomes chameleon con artist in 'Delightfully Deceitful' Chun Woo-hee becomes chameleon con artist in 'Delightfully Deceitful'
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group