‘Unkempt toilets & home remedies’; Old people suffer in Chinese Quarantine facilities

As cases in Shanghai continue to rise, Chinese elderly people who have not been vaccinated, like critical employees, risk living in deplorable circumstances in poorly maintained quarantine facilities. Shanghai has been under lockdown for a month, and most neighbourhoods — with the exception of a few – are still sealed and under lockdown as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) remains dedicated to the zero-Covid policy.

Family members of a nonagenarian couple speaking to the BBC highlighted the misery of senior citizens under the zero-Covid policy and stated their worries that keeping elderly people in substandard quarantine circumstances is comparable to giving them the death penalty. According to family members, officials issued an all clear to one of the 90-year-olds, allowing him to quarantine at home, but his wife was not so fortunate and was compelled to quarantine in a badly run quarantine centre.

The CCP’s hesitancy and anxiety may be seen in the words of the Shanghai people who talked to the BBC. ‘Quarantine facilities aren’t as excellent as hospitals. However, I believe the country has done its best to care for them,’ one Shanghai resident stated. He also stated that Shanghai, which is currently combating Covid, is nearing the end of its medical resources.

It could not be more clear when the folks described above stated that instead of antibiotics and modern medication, patients in China’s quarantine centres were compelled to consume Chinese traditional medicine – which is ineffective in battling Covid-19. The nonagenarian couple’s relatives, on the other hand, claimed that the wife was compelled to quarantine at such a facility. The centre was ill-equipped because the toilet block was more than 100 metres away from her bed, and the lady even drank less water so she wouldn’t have to relieve herself.

The family also mentioned fluorescent lights that stayed on throughout the day, making it difficult for the elderly to sleep comfortably. Residents in Beijing are concerned about what may befall them as a result of the news coming out of Shanghai. The breadth of the Shanghai lockdown, as well as the CCP’s inflexible stance, has once again focused attention on how the party intends to achieve its zero-Covid agenda – even at the expense of its elderly.