Lives come first, China’s Erdos city tells residents, as zero-Covid blamed for death of 3-year-old
- ‘We insist on putting lives first’, official statement says, as death of toddler in another city sparks fresh anger over human cost of zero-Covid
- Widely shared video clip from Hebei shows a father brandishing a knife to get past a Covid-19 checkpoint and buy baby milk formula for his son
The Erdos political and legal affairs commission pledged to step up emergency response, and better protect public safety and property, saying it had “drawn lessons” from problems exposed recently over pandemic prevention in some cities.
“In Erdos, at any time, we insist on putting lives first and saving people first,” the commission said in a statement posted by Erdos police on its official WeChat account.
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The father said his son had suffered gas poisoning and he pleaded with the community, police and hospitals for help, but all failed to come to the rescue in time.
On Thursday, Lanzhou authorities conceded the death had exposed “poor handling of the incident, weak emergency response capabilities and a rigid work style”, but did not admit any wrongdoing. An investigation was under way, they said.
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The official statement from Erdos authorities said people undergoing home isolation or centralised quarantine should call the police in an emergency, and that authorities would deal with the issue as soon as possible.
“In Erdos, if you encounter a situation that endangers your personal safety, especially an emergency that threatens your life … you have the right to take measures to save yourself or to avoid danger in a timely manner,” the statement said, citing articles from the criminal law and civil code.
“In Erdos, please rest assured. We’ll do our best to protect your life, safety and legal rights.”
The announcement was welcomed by social media users across China.
Several accounts of strict lockdowns denying people basic necessities, including urgent medical care, have swept the internet in recent months as China digs in on an anti-Covid policy of strict lockdowns, universal testing, border controls and quarantine.
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A video clip shared widely on Monday shows a father in Baoding, in northern Hebei province, brandishing a knife as he tries to cross a Covid-19 checkpoint to get milk formula for his months-old baby.
The clip shows him getting out of his car at a checkpoint and waving a knife as he shouts: “My son is so young, he needs baby milk formula urgently. I’ve been waiting for a long time, and now I must bring it back.”
The guards stand back and he drives through the checkpoint, but he was later arrested by the police for breaking Covid-19 restrictions and endangering the lives of others, according to an official notice.
“However, the police have taken the unusual circumstances into account and decided to only fine him 100 yuan (US$13.76),” the Baoding police force said, adding that local authorities had helped the father get the milk formula he needed for his son.
There have been reports of people being placed under police detention for forcing their way in or out of locked down areas.
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Inner Mongolia logged 239 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, one of them in Erdos and the rest in Hohhot. The 525 new asymptomatic cases detected also included one from Erdos and 514 in Hohhot. Erdos had a total of 101 Covid-19 infections, 46 of them asymptomatic.
As of Friday afternoon, Erdos had nine high-risk areas, 35 medium-risk areas and five low-risk areas demarcated by health authorities. Residents in the first two risk tiers are under different levels of lockdown, whereas low-risk areas will allow people through “when necessary”, but they must provide two negative PCR test results from the previous 48 hours.
