China: Dozens held in Xi'an for resisting COVID-19 lockdown that left many without food

Chinese Police on Saturday arrested dozens of citizens for resisting and complaining against the strict lockdown in the northern city of Xi'an in Shaanxi province. Seen as one of the most intense lockdowns, since the beginning of the pandemic after Wuhan, has deprived nearly 13 million residents of basic supplies like food, urgent medical care and more, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported. The string of arrests has fuelled public anger over the restrictions. The locked-down citizens have been highlighting the gruesome picture of the targeted lockdown on social media since it was declared on December 23.

Thousands of residents of Xi'an have been pushed to stay in out-of-town quarantine centers. Others were ordered to stay at home and denied basic medical attention, RFA sources told the publication. Since the lockdown, Xi'an citizens have been facing a host of difficulties spanning from non-availability of groceries, unemployment. Residents took to the Chinese social media platform Weibo to talk about the harrowing living conditions. Some residents said they were starving and appealing to neighbours for help.

"I'm about to be starved to death. There's no food, my housing compound won't let me out, and I'm about to run out of instant noodles ... please help!" wrote one person on Weibo, CNA had reported.

As per reports, in the two-week-long running lockdown, hospitals have refused patients who were able to provide green health codes on China's COVID-19 tracker app. It is pertinent to mention that the application had malfunctioned multiple times amid the huge spike in traffic after forced-lockdown barred nearly everyone from venturing into the city without a 'green code.' In addition, Chinese authorities have also launched a probe on account holders for allegedly reporting "false diagnosis of cases."

COVID cases in China

Considering the worst flare-up in COVID-19 cases since pandemic outbreak, China two weeks ago announced stringent stay-at-home orders. Hundreds and thousands were asked to remain in quarantine-like situations after China on December 29 reported 209 infections in a single day, the highest daily caseload since March 2020, CNA had reported. The measures come as Beijing is gearing up for the Winter Olympics, to be held in February, amid severe criticisms of human rights violations from the international community. Other northern cities like Yan'an, which is about 300kms from Xi'an have also been asked to shut down businesses after cases linked to COVID-19 were reported in the last week of December. Xi'an has seen more than 1,600 cases in its latest surge of the Delta variant, PTI reported.

(Image: AP)