China's Covid policy: Shanghai separates virus-positive kids from parents, defends decision
Shanghai, China
China is facing a surge in coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and to curb the spread of infection the nation has adopted strict and unbending measures.
Amid other Covid rules, anyone found positive in Shanghai must be isolated from non-infected people, even if they are asymptomatic or have a mild infection.
Shanghai official Wu Qianyu on Monday (April 4) told a news conference that children could be accompanied by their parents if the parents were also infected, but separated if they were not. The officials added that policies were still being refined.
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Important to note that China has sent the military and thousands of healthcare workers into Shanghai to help carry out Covid tests for all of its 26 million residents.
The move has been condemned by Western diplomats. They have raised concerns about separating children from their parents as part of Covid curbs.
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Not just Western diplomats, people in China have also expressed anger. Parents and guardians have raised their voices against the policy on social media.
"Parents need to meet 'conditions' to accompany their children? That's absurd... it should be their most basic right," one unnamed commenter wrote on Weibo as quoted by AFP. Weibo is China's Twitter-like social media platform.
ALSO READ |China sends military, doctors to Shanghai to test 26 million residents for Covid
Meanwhile, health officials in Shanghai on Monday have defended separating babies and young children from their parents. Wu said the policy was integral to virus "prevention and control work".
China's state broadcaster CCTV reported on Mondayquoting the Ministry of Health thatmore than 38,000 health workers from 15 provinces have been sent to Shanghai to help fight the virus outbreak.
On April 4, the nationwide caseload topped 13,000 for a second day.
WATCH |China sends military, healthcare workers to Shanghai to conduct covid-19 test for 26 MN residents