Officials apologise after Covid lockdown causes food shortages for hundreds of thousands in Chinese city

Guiyang city officials apologise for ‘causing inconvenience’ after residents say they were left to starve
District blames shortages on lack of delivery workers due to Covid-19 restrictions

Coronavirus China

Phoebe Zhang

Published: 5:15pm, 8 Sep 2022

Why you can trust SCMP

Authorities in the Chinese city of Guiyang have apologised after a snap lockdown and delayed food deliveries left hundreds of thousands of residents without food.

In a press conference on Thursday, officials from the city’s Nanming district government said the food shortages in the Huaguoyuan residential area were caused by a lack of delivery workers due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Adding to the problem, they said many of the residents are younger people who do not usually cook or store their own food. Huaguoyuan is home to nearly 500,000 residents.

“We will better coordinate resources, ensure food and necessities get to the area, allow cross-district deliveries and resort to group-buying,” said Du Min, a deputy district mayor.

In a public letter to the residential area on Wednesday, the district officials apologised for “causing inconvenience”.

“Due to inexperience and inappropriate methods, some residents were still waiting in queues late at night for testing and some areas were short of food supplies. We felt guilty and for this we apologise,” the letter read.

Authorities began locking down Huaguoyuan on Friday after a few infections were discovered.

Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, reported 74 Covid-19 infections on Thursday, most of which have yet to show symptoms. About 320 people initially tested positive but they require further confirmation before being classified as local infections. Various districts in Guiyang were put under different levels of restrictions and mass testing this week. Authorities said on Wednesday the outbreak originated in an area with fresh produce stands and had spread widely among shoppers.

Michelle Chen, a coffee shop assistant who lives in Huaguoyuan, said many rental flats in the area are home to four or five people who have no space to cook and rely entirely on takeaway food.

02:05

Long Covid-19 patients struggle with suicide risk more than 2 years into the pandemic

Chen said she had lived on stored food for a few days, mostly potatoes, but her supplies had just run out. “I bought a bag of rice online, but vegetables were sold out quickly,” she said. “This morning they said there will be more deliveries, but I’m still waiting.”

Another woman said that due to poor management and long queues, her building was often told to test at 2am. Other residents in her building complained of having no food or cooking utensils, but neighbours tried to help each other out.

Hong Kong stocks suffer losing week as new China lockdowns rattle investors

Animals in the city have also gone hungry due to the restrictions. Guizhou Wildlife Park this week appealed for donations of food, including chicken, carrots, eggs and grapes.

On Wednesday, zoo managers said a shipment was due to arrive soon. “Could you tell us where you bought the food? We need it for humans as well,” one person wrote on Weibo.

Lockdowns spell holiday nightmare for tens of thousands of Chinese tourists

Since the government issued an apology, area residents said they had begun receiving care packages delivered by community staff, but it’s not nearly enough.

Zhu Min, a 22-year-old Huaguoyuan resident, said after nearly a week, her floor finally received one cabbage that had to be divided among six families. It was the first time since the lockdown that she had tasted anything other than noodles, biscuits or eggs, she said.

01:30

Residents in China argue with guard to leave apartment blocks during deadly earthquake

As China sticks with its zero-Covid strategy, tens of millions of residents have endured chaotic lockdowns that have caused massive disruptions and hardship. During previous lockdowns in Shanghai, Xian and northeastern provinces, residents had also complained on social media of food shortages, medical emergencies and even miscarriages or deaths caused by restrictions.