Hong Kong, Sep 5 : More than 70 Chinese cities have been under partial or full Covid lockdowns since the end of August, affecting over 300 million residents as local authorities try to eradicate the disease at all costs in the countdown that will lead to Xi Jinping’s anticipated third term, according to media reports.As of August 20, at the very least 74 cities with a total number of 313 million people have implemented lockdowns that affect entire districts, cities or multiple neighborhoods according to CNN’s calculations.
These include the provincial capitals of 15 provinces as well as Tianjin which is a municipality at the provincial level, CNN reported.
A lot of the restrictions remain in place.
According to Chinese financial publication Caixin 33 cities are under either full or partial lockdowns.Experts predict that more cities could be added in the next few weeks.
The massive restrictions that disrupt the lives of people and businesses are in striking the contrast with the return of normality in large parts of the world.people have generally shifted into living with the disease, CNN reported.
However, China insists that no-Covid is helping save lives.Health officials have pointed to the low elderly vaccination rate as well as the lack of rural healthcare as obstacles to easing restrictions, but Chinese public health experts say that political factors have played a huge part, too.
Xi Jinping, a staunch advocate of China’s uncompromising zero-Covid policy is set to be named the country’s leader for the next five years during the 20th Party Congress, scheduled to begin on the 16th of October.
The highly choreographed event is intended to be an occasion of celebration and validation of the accomplishments of the Party -and of Xi personally during his time in the position of power.
The risk of outbreaks is weakening the image of the party experts claim.
“The Party wants to make sure that there is nothing that could be harmful like an outbreak that is major could jeopardize the stability of society, and impede the process of transitioning to leadership – and, of course, the credibility of Xi’s leadership,” said Yanzhong Huang who is a senior fellow in international health at the Council on Foreign Relations, CNN reported.
