As the world recovers from the daunting COVID-19 epidemic, one city has seen a severe influx in cases. Shanghai, China has been hit with a wave of COVID cases during the past couple of months. As cases have risen, rules were enforced upon citizens, and a heavy quarantine was issued. This form of regulation in China is called Zero-Covid. Citizens are prohibited from leaving their rooms and are only advised to leave the premises when being tested; schools are closed, business halted, and transportation stopped. The city of Shanghai is a ghost town.
Zero-Covid has immensely affected the social state in Shanghai. The strict requirements citizens have to follow have prohibited residents from interacting with one another. With many stores closed, food has not been dispersed throughout the city, leaving many starving. Testing is required; as a result, many people are prohibited from traveling out of the city. These policies are causing many citizens to panic. For many western countries, these rules are seen as something from the past. With restrictions released, western countries have slowly adjusted to life with COVID. However, citizens of Shanghai are still restricted; they are bound to their rooms, still distanced from the outside world.
The economic state of Shanghai has completely flipped due to the Zero-Covid strategy. Citizens have been stripped of their jobs, and the Chinese economy has suffered. Unemployment in China has risen to its highest since official records began, and the government’s global GDP has plummeted along with retail and housing sales. Shanghai – a vital part of the Chinese economy – is subject to the harshest restrictions on businesses; most stores have been closed with the exception of food stores and factories. Still, the Chinese government is persistent in enforcing the Zero-Covid strategy and will continue to affect its economy.
The Zero-Covid strategy has changed Shanghai: its streets are empty, and businesses have been halted. Social and economic status in Shanghai has plunged because of harsh restrictions. As cases simmer down, many citizens hope that life will return to normal; however, the Chinese government is adamant about eliminating COVID-19 for good.
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Tharoor, Ishaan. “Strict lockdowns in Shanghai, China bring the pandemic full circle.” The Washington Post, 29 April 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/29/china-shanghai-covid-lockdown-pandemic-end/. Accessed 13 June 2022.