Police in hazmat suits push back Shanghai COVID protesters ordered to leave homes

Police in hazmat suits have shoved people out the way as they dispersed a protest over Shanghai’s strict coronavirus rules.

Residents were demonstrating after being told to immediately leave their apartment building because the government wants to use it as a COVID isolation facility.

It happened on Thursday in the Zhangjiang Nashi International Community in the Pudong New area.

Dressed top to toe in protective kit – some with their police belts over the top – officers marched back the residents and there were a few scuffles.

Shanghai has been under an extremely strict lockdown for several weeks, with millions banned from leaving home amid rising cases.

People are relying on the the government to deliver food but some have been unable to get enough, leading to small-scale protests.

Apartment buildings have been turned into isolation centres for COVID cases as people are not allowed to quarantine at home.

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Residents in three of the five buildings in the Zhangjiang Nashi International Community have been told to leave immediately and have been trying to negotiate with the government and the company that runs the compound.

Video of police breaking up the protest was put on social media and has been verified by Sky News.

Others with COVID in Shanghai are being held at vast exhibition centres with no showers, little privacy and lights kept on 24/7.

Asia correspondent

Shanghai’s residents have been asked to put up with a lot. Their lockdown is characterised by uncertainty and severity.

Uncertainty because it was only supposed to be four days long. That was two weeks ago and there is still no end in sight.

Severity, because this is unlike lockdowns in the rest of the world – most people cannot leave their homes and must rely on the government to deliver scarce food supplies.

But being asked to give up their houses, in order to accommodate COVID patients, was just too far, hence the extraordinary scenes of protest.

That will rattle authorities – not just that people were determined to resist the police, but that the images spread so quickly and widely on social media.

Frustration at heavy-handed interventions by the state can quickly become disillusionment with China’s COVID-zero policy. Disillusionment in policy could become distrust of the Party instead.

The white protective suits that are omnipresent here were a symbol of courage and togetherness during the Wuhan outbreak of 2020. In 2022, they have become the uniform of anonymous, thuggish state control.

China has a zero-tolerance approach to coronavirus, with massive action taken in response to even a minor cluster of cases.

Experts have told Sky News the lockdown in Shanghai and other cities could soon have “massive global effects in the supply chain”.

Tech firm Huawei has warned of industry-wide suspensions and analysts say shipments of some Apple products, as well as Dell and Lenovo laptops could be delayed.

New COVID cases in Shanghai were down from 27,000 to 23,000 on Friday.

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