The Chinese city of Xi’an, home to some 13 million people, has revealed plans to enforce lockdowns again – but not for Covid. Instead, the mega-city has backed the use of lockdowns and school and business closures as part of a plan to contain influenza outbreaks. The plans have already triggered a backlash on Chinese social media, with many terrified about the prospect of returning to the strict restrictions seen during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The emergency response plan for the city published Wednesday allows city officials to enforce lockdowns “when necessary” if an outbreak of the common flu virus poses a “serious threat”.
Following the publication, officials said a lockdown could be “imminent”.
It comes amid a rising number of influenza cases across the country, while COVID-19 cases continue to fall.
The plan details four levels of flu outbreak, and if the virus was to reach a critically high level, fresh lockdowns would likely be reinstated.
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This would enable officials in Xi’an to shut schools, entertainment venues, and businesses if community spread reaches an acute level.
Professor Tang Renwu, from the School of Government at Beijing Normal University, said more local governments across China were likely to adopt similar lockdown plans for flu outbreaks in the coming days.
Prof Tang said: “Local governments should pay attention to their wording when issuing similar documents so as not to trigger social panic.”
China only reversed its long-standing zero-Covid policy three months ago.
One user on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform posted: “Is it not enough to torture people last year, that we are thinking of doing it again and again?”
Another wrote: “If we have to lock down because of influenza, then won’t we have to lock down every time flu season comes? We will not go backwards.”
Other users on Weibo pointed out that the common flu did not require lockdown measures prior to COVID, claiming “life went on as per normal”.
Huang Yanzhong, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, told the BBC: “To local residents who were traumatised by the lockdown measures not long ago, the return to the same draconian method in coping with flu outbreaks is by no means justified.”
