Second wave: A county in central China is locked down because of new coronavirus cases

Earlier today Allahpundit wrote about the classified report which apparently claims China has been lying about its coronavirus numbers. He mentioned the fact that Shanghai which had reopened last month are now closed again. Today the South China Morning Post reports a county in central China which has been put on complete lock down.

Advertisement

Henan province in central China has taken the drastic measure of putting a mid-sized county in total lockdown as authorities try to fend off a second coronavirus wave in the midst of a push to revive the economy.

Curfew-like measures came into effect on Tuesday in Jia county, near the city of Pingdingshan, with the area’s roughly 600,000 residents told to stay home, according to a notice on the country’s official microblog account…

All businesses have been shut down, except utilities, medical suppliers, logistics companies and food processing firms. All shops except supermarkets, hospitals, food markets, petrol stations, pharmacies and hotels have been closed.

This is just one of several places where the government’s Fugong fuchan (return to work) message is being delayed because of the reality that the virus is not completely under control:

Cinemas, briefly reopened with plans to lure customers back with Harry Potter in 3D, were ordered to shut again. In Shanghai, indoor tourist attractions have again been suspended. The city of Jinzhou, in Liaoning province, said on Monday that clubs, karaoke bars, internet cafes and any cultural venue “where people gather” could not reopen. Businesses that had opened their doors again were told to suspend operations immediately.

Sichuan province abruptly ordered all entertainment venues to shut, interrupting karaoke bar patrons mid-song. One resident wrote online of the experience: “I was halfway through before I was told to stop immediately. At least I got to sing for a bit.”

Advertisement

Even when the government orders things to return to normal, many citizens wary of being lied to by authorities are hesitant to comply. Last week China finally lifted travel restrictions on Hubei province where the outbreak had started. But when some workers tried to cross a bridge into a nearby province they were stopped by police. The whole scene erupted into a mob scene with mobs overturning cars:

On Friday that opposition erupted into violence as thousands of Hubei migrant workers tried to cross over a bridge linking Huangmei in Hubei to Jiujiang in neighbouring Jiangxi province…

Hours after the incident took place, police from Jiujiang and Huangmei issued statements online, which were deleted shortly afterwards, accusing each other of causing trouble.

A commentary subsequently published in the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist party, that “some places are discriminating against Hubei people without purpose” was condemned online on Sunday, suggesting that Beijing’s plan to end its nationwide lockdown will take longer than it hoped.

Here’s what that looked like. These videos were censored on Chinese social media but can still be found on Twitter and YouTube.

Advertisement

So people are angry and afraid, in part because they don’t trust authorities to tell them what is really going on. Meanwhile in the U.S. we’ve had umpteen reports about China’s amazing ability to completely stop the coronavirus. This is just the latest example where the U.S. media seems eager to run with Chinese propaganda. Are they going to get a little more skeptical about the CCP’s pronouncements at some point?

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
John Stossel 8:30 AM | December 22, 2024
Advertisement