There was an outcry over the suggestion that Chinese cities should introduce flu lockdowns if they were to have an outbreak.
The city of Xian, located in the Shaanxi province, which is also the birthplace of the famed Terracotta Warriors, released their Emergency Response Plan this week on social media.
In it, it details how it will close schools, businesses, and other busy places in the metropolis of about 13 million if there is a major influenza outbreak.
It comes as China struggles with an upsurge in flu cases following the reopening from Covid lockdown. There is a lot of worry expressed on Chinese social media sites like Weibo about how flu policies are “excessive” and echoes of Covids economic-crippling zero-level policies.
The city was locked down for one month in 2021 in order to contain a Covid outbreak, and residents were largely prevented from leaving their homes.
Few want to see that return.
“Is it not enough to torture people (before), that we are thinking of doing it again and again?,” one user wrote on Weibo.
“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 backward,” another said.
“Vaccinate the public rather than using such time to create a sense of panic,” a third commented.
“How will people not panic given that Xi’an’s proposal to suspend work and business activities were issued without clear instruction on the national level to classify the disease?” asked another.
