Residents of Shanghai have reported that ''armed police'' have begun patrolling around the gates of residential communities while the Chinese financial hub of 26 million people is under another COVID-19 lockdown.
''The city will continue to implement closures and controls, and continue to strictly implement the stay-home policy except in the case of people seeking medical treatment due to illness,'' the municipal government of Shanghai said in an announcement earlier this week via Weibo, according to Radio Free Asia.
''There are special police with guns stationed at the gates of our community, because the older people on the neighborhood committee can't keep control of the situation,'' said Zhang Jin, an academic who lives in Shanghai. ''They're afraid there'll be some kind of incident in Shanghai, which would be a big deal, so they've been brought in to keep order.''
One Shanghai resident, who gave only the name Feng, said that ''the armed police came on March 28 and 29, and there are a lot of armed police around right now. They had been keeping a low profile, but they are much more open since Vice Premier Sun Chunlan arrived here.''
She added, ''Those of us who live near the airport were kept up all night because the rumbling sound from the military transports was so loud, and there were also helicopters flying constantly back and forth overhead.''
A leaked audio recording reportedly captured a member of the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention speaking with the public and saying that the city was struggling to find room in hospitals and isolation centers.
''Let me tell you this; hospital wards are full to bursting; there's no space left in isolation facilities, and there are no ambulances available because they are answering hundreds of calls a day,'' the official says in the recording, according to RFA. ''This has totally overturned the image that Shanghai used to have'' abroad.
''They are now writing down people's positive tests as negative ... our professionals and experts are being driven crazy because nobody is listening to what they have to say,'' the official continues. ''This pandemic has become a political disease, consuming so much manpower, material and financial resources.''
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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