China Sends College Students to Quarantine Under Zero COVID

Beijing – Some 500 students at China’s top university for broadcast journalists have been sent to quarantine centers after a small number of COVID-19 cases were detected in their dormitories.

488 students from the Communication University of China, along with 19 teachers and 5 assistants, traveled by bus from Friday evening.

Isolating people who may have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus is a pillar of China’s “zero COVID” policy. The quarantine center includes a field hospital, a converted stadium and an exhibition center. criticized Because of overcrowding, poor hygiene and spoiled food.

As of last week, approximately 65 million Chinese residents were put under lockdown, despite only 1,248 new cases of domestic infection reported on Sunday. Most of them were asymptomatic.

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of Lockdown sparked protests Conflicts online and with healthcare workers and police are taking a toll on the economy and impacting global supply chains for electronics and other products. A weeks-long lockdown in China’s largest city, Shanghai, over the summer caused an outflow of migrant workers and foreign businessmen, but its effects are yet to be felt.

With the release of economic data this week, analysts are seeking insight into how China’s handling of the pandemic is impacting economic activity in the world’s second-largest economy. The lockdown comes with near-daily tests, travel restrictions and suspension of classes at all levels.

China has pursued relentless enforcement of its policies, even as virtually every other country seeks to return to normal life with the help of vaccines and drugs to fight the virus.

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“Zero-COVID” is closely associated with President Xi Jinping, leading to accusations that the government has politicized the public health crisis. His administration has rejected statements from the World Health Organization. policy is unsustainableand refused to approve a foreign vaccine widely believed to be more effective than one manufactured by a Chinese company.

Xi, who has not left the country since the pandemic began in early 2020, has seized every lever of power, struck a divisive tone in foreign policy, sidelined or imprisoned rivals. .He abolished term limits on the presidency and extended his five-year term to his third term as Communist Party leader. party convention next month.