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Authorities in the Chinese financial hub of Shanghai say three people with COVID-19 have died — the first time during the latest outbreak that officials have reported deaths among coronavirus patients.
Key points:
- Australians in Shanghai have expressed fears they might be separated from their children under strict quarantine arrangements
- The Australian government has raised concerns with Chinese authorities over family separation and other strict conditions of lockdown
- Some foreigners living through the COVID situation in Shanghai say they want to leave China
The deaths come as thousands of the city's residents remain in up to 100 quarantine facilities for those who have tested positive for COVID-19 but have few or no symptoms.
Real estate saleswoman Beibei is one of those patients. She sleeps beside thousands of strangers in rows of cots in Shanghai's National Exhibition and Convention Centre, which now houses 50,000 beds for patients.
The 30 year old says the centre's lights stay on all night, and she has yet to find a hot shower.
Beibei and her husband were ordered into the massive exhibition centre last Tuesday after spending 10 days isolated at home following positive COVID tests.
As a result, she has been separated from her two-year-old daughter, who tested negative, and is now staying with her grandfather, after her nanny also was forced into quarantine.
This policy of separating families has alarmed Western ex-pats in the city.
People who test COVID-positive, including children, are taken to government quarantine centres even if they are asymptomatic.
It is just one of the tough measures being implemented under Shanghai's strict lockdown, which began in March and is part of China's broader COVID-zero policy.
China reported 26,155 new cases on Sunday, all but 3,529 of which had no symptoms.
Shanghai accounted for 95 per cent of the total, or 24,820 cases, including 3,238 with no symptoms.
The city has reported more than 300,000 cases since late March.
Shanghai health authorities confirmed 305 infected children aged six and younger were put in quarantine during March.
The separation rules have left many Australian parents in the city of 25 million people feeling uneasy about what the future might hold.
Norman Lau, an Australian who has lived in Shanghai for nearly 20 years, has two children, aged 11 and 14.
Many expats, he said, were "frightened by such a potential".
Australia raises concerns over family separation, other measures
In a video message posted to social media, Australian Ambassador to China Graham Fletcher said the government had raised its concerns over the severe measures with Chinese authorities.
"Chinese authorities are working hard to reduce case numbers. But we know lockdowns and other restrictions are having a real impact on all of you there in Shanghai," he said.
"Along with other governments with [a] presence in Shanghai, Australia has raised our concerns directly with the Chinese authorities, including about access to food, medical services, or the airport."
As part of the strict restrictions, Shanghai's health authorities have prohibited citizens from leaving their apartments for groceries or exercise since the city-wide lockdown began.
This has led to complaints about food shortages among the city's residents.
People with chronic disease and non-COVID conditions have also struggled to get treatment and medication.
Recent social media videos showed some residents rallying in their apartment complexes to request food and supplies from authorities.
Country representatives in Shanghai, including the French consulate and the British embassy, reportedly sent letters to authorities on behalf of more than 30 other countries including Australia, to express concern over Shanghai's lockdown measures and the separation of parents and children.
Mr Fletcher said Australia had also raised concerns about "the conditions of quarantine facilities, including whether families will be separated".
"Like others, we are raising these concerns directly with Chinese officials, without always getting the answers we want," he said.
Ender Waters, a dual Australian-American citizen, arrived in Shanghai in September 2020 after spending six months in on-and-off lockdowns in Melbourne.
The English-language teacher said the biggest difference between the lockdowns in the two cities — other than the Shanghai one being stricter — was the unpredictability of food supplies.
Mr Waters said he and many other expats from Western countries signed a petition against the separation of families, but it was taken down after two days.
“I think that's absolutely a very inhumane policy, and I think they [the government] at least partially walked it back," he said.
Mr Waters said he was not critical of China taking a different COVID approach to Western countries due to the potential severity of the symptoms, but he believed there could have been better management of supply chains to make sure everyone had access to food.
"A lot of people are talking about leaving among the foreigners. I think there's just a kind of a general unpreparedness for this to happen."
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Australian Consulate-General in Shanghai had been engaging with the Australian community in Shanghai as well as local authorities.
The spokesperson said it encouraged Australians living in Shanghai to comply with pandemic restrictions.
"We will continue to engage with local authorities on COVID-19 response measures, including the implementation of COVID-19 policies in relation to the treatment of families," they said.
The ABC has approached the Shanghai municipal government for comment on the criticisms around its strict COVID rules.
Lights on 24 hours a day at quarantine centre
Other patients at the Shanghai exhibition centre show "no obvious symptoms," Beibei, who asked to be identified only by her given name, told the Associated Press in an interview by video phone.
She said she had been told she was to be released on Monday after returning two negative tests while at the convention centre.
Beibei said she had a stuffy nose and briefly lost part of her senses of taste and smell, but those symptoms passed in a few days.
Shanghai began easing restrictions last week, though a health official warned the city did not have its outbreak under control.
At the convention centre, residents are checked twice a day for fever and told to record health information on mobile phones, according to Beibei.
Most people pass the time by reading, square dancing, taking online classes or watching videos on mobile phones.
The 420,000-square-metre exhibition centre is best known as the site of the world's biggest auto show.
Other quarantine sites include temporary prefabricated buildings.
Residents in other facilities have complained about leaky roofs, inadequate food supplies and delays in treatment for medical problems.
"We haven't found a place with a hot shower," Beibei said.
"Lights are on all night, and it's hard to fall asleep."
A video obtained by AP showed wet beds and floors due to a leaky roof in one of the prefabricated buildings.
"Bathrooms are not very clean," Beibei said. "So many people use them, and volunteers or cleaners can't keep up."
Lockdown impacts foreign business
Australian businessman Nicholas Oettinger has lived in Shanghai for 15 years, where operates factories that produce doors and windows.
He said the lockdown had dealt his firm the most severe blow it had ever experienced.
While he described himself as being "very committed to China", he is now thinking of leaving.
"[I'm] considering leaving next year, and to move my factories out of China," Mr Oettinger said.
It is still uncertain when China will abandon its zero-COVID policy.
"Naturally, all prevention and control measures come at a price," Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian said.
"All these efforts are worthwhile to protect people's life and health."
"China is able to maintain socio-economic growth and, at the same time, make an important contribution to keeping the world industrial and supply chains stable and smooth and sustaining world economic growth."
Additional reporting by Max Walden.
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