While all eyes have been on Chengdu as the city of 21 million has been in semi-lockdown since September 1st, netizens from locked-down areas in Yili, Xinjiang, are begging for help and are reaching out via social media.
Since July 30, Yili has had 1290 Covid cases. A total of 23 cases were added on Saturday, September 10.
Yili, or Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, is part of northern Xinjiang near the border of Kazakhstan. Its primary city, Yining (also known as Ghulja), is home to some 500,000 people and has been locked down since at least August 11. People complain about a lack of food, “outrageous” commodity prices, and a lack of much-needed medical care.
On September 7, one woman wrote: “I’m 41 weeks + 1 day pregnant and nine days past my due date. I’ve been bleeding today. I already was at the Xinhua Hospital for five hours when they told me they were closing the hospital. There are 8 to 9 pregnant women waiting here. Where are we supposed to go, what are we supposed to do?”
As the woman’s story attracted some online attention, Weibo later added an update to the woman’s account saying she had received medical care and that both mother and baby were doing well.
But her story is just one among many. On September 8, one Weibo netizen posted an “SOS” post saying that local people who had been in lockdown for 36 days were becoming “desperate” as some families were unable to receive medical care for sick children or elder family members.
One audio recording (video) featured a conversation between medical staff and family members, who had come to the hospital by ambulance with their ill (grand)father but found he could not be admitted due to new Health Commission orders. “He’s starting to vomit blood again,” one of the women can be heard crying out: “Don’t you care? There’s blood, he has difficulty breathing, what are you doing?! It doesn’t matter what the Health Commission says, what can we do? Doctor! Doctor! Doctor, are you there?!”
Other families were dealing with food shortages and allegedly had gone without food for days on end. “This is really happening during the Yili epidemic, the locals have tried many things to let the outside world know about our circumstances here. I beg of you, look at us, help us in this little border town, we’re locked inside and don’t have enough supplies, yet they opened the tourist scenic areas, help us, help us here, help the Yili common people!”
The post attracted over 60,000 likes, was reposted over 11,000 times and received thousands of comments, with some saying: “We need to get this trending, how is this possible, the outside world doesn’t know anything about this!” “It’s all true, thanks for speaking up for us,” one Xinjiang-based Weibo user wrote.
Later, another netizen posted: “We’ve already been in lockdown for 39 days, I don’t have the words to express everything that’s going on here. We want to be trending!”
“We’ve been locked in for 40 days and yet they opened up the tourist areas,” one local posted the next day: “Children who have a 40 degree fever can’t even see a doctor, pregnant women can’t even get into the hospital, we really can’t take this anymore.”
Wit its beautiful grasslands and amazing views, Yili is a popular travel destination in Xinjiang.
On September 9, Yili authorities held a press conference during which deputy governor Liu Qinghua (刘庆华) confirmed that there had been problems in access to medical care and supplies and that local authorities were working on ensuring public’s medical needs during this period.
But on social media, the complaints and cries of despair are still ongoing. Some people share screenrecordings of local community Wechat groups where mothers are crying out of worry for their children, there are people saying they are hungry and that they have not been provided with any food.
Close contacts and those testing positive for Covid who were taken to local fangcang or quarantine locations also complain about the conditions there. One makeshift quarantine location was set up in August on a sports field where people were made to sleep in tents despite the blistering heat, followed by wind and rain.
“We’ve been in this epidemic for three years already from 2020 to 2022, how can the measures still be so poor?” some wonder.
“I’m patriotic and I love my hometown,” one Xinjiang-based netizen wrote on Weibo: “After graduating I had no second thoughts about returning home to work here. But I’ve become desperate over the past few years (..) I know the government is just a state apparatus and it can’t be perfect everywhere and it can even be heartless, but the people behind it should at least have a heart. I’ve really become so numb.”
“Here in Xinyuan County in Yili, I’ve been in lockdown for 31 days, how about you?” one person asked in the ‘Yili Supertopic’ group on Weibo. “It’s my 42nd day,” one person answered.
Another person also wrote: “When can we go out, it’s been 42 days.” “When will the lockdown be lifted?” others wondered.
There is also online discussion about which posts are true, what is being censored and why, and how to distinguish rumors from what is actually happening.
Some stories circulating online suggested an older resident in Yili hung himself out of hunger and despair, another story suggested there was a family with three children who had a high fever but could not get any help. These stories were later denied by local authorities, who claimed they were “lies made up by people with ulterior motives” (link) – the three children did receive medial help and the suicide story was allegedly fabricated.
“What is real, is that the entire city has been silent for 41 days,” one Weibo commenter responded, with another saying: “First they say it’s fake news, then they apologize.”
Others also wondered why Yili still was not trending on Weibo, with many suggesting the topic was purposely kept out of the hot lists.
As rain is pouring down in Yili, some are worried about the patients in the tent quarantine camp, while others welcome the showers: “I hope the rain can wash away all of the virus, so that we can finally go out again.”
By Manya Koetse
With contributions by Miranda Barnes
Featured image via Weibo user @渣男90702.
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