China reports 360 new COVID-19 cases, food shortage hurting Shanghai residents

Photo: IANS


China reported a total of 360 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, of which 261 were reported solely in Shanghai, according to the National Health Commission’s report on Thursday, while people in Shanghai are falling sick after consuming some of the food supplied by the local administration.

Shanghai reported most of the new cases. The city reported a total number of 261 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases. Moreover, a total of 4,390 local asymptomatic cases were reported, the municipal health commission informed.

Meanwhile, as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread in more and more cities in China, questions are mounting over the country’s much-publicized “zero-covid” strategy that the government credited for bringing the country out of the pandemic.

The ongoing severe lockdown restrictions in China’s Shanghai to contain the spread of COVID-19 has drastically affected the day-to-day lives of the people due to food shortage.

Further, in a major escalation of COVID-19 restrictions amid a surge in Omicron variant cases, Beijing has banned all restaurant dining, shut down universal studios and ordered residents to provide proof of a negative Covid test to enter public venues.

According to reports, Shanghai residents have also been falling sick after consuming some of the food supplies because of the distribution of stale food by the authorities amid the city’s COVID-19 lockdown.

The city’s poor handling of the country’s worst COVID-19 outbreak in two years has raised public distrust in the authorities and anger at the government.