Coronavirus: Chinese city says sorry for break-in drive to find close contacts

Guangzhou district apologises for breaking locks to enter 84 homes in search of close contacts of Covid-19 cases
‘Deeply saddened by this rude and wrong behaviour’, statement from Liwan district epidemic authorities says

Coronavirus China

Nick Yangin Beijing

Published: 9:00am, 19 Jul 2022

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Health authorities in China’s southern city of Guangzhou have apologised for forcing their way into nearly 100 homes after their inhabitants had been sent away to undergo centralised quarantine for Covid-19.

Officials in Guangzhou’s Liwan district had entered 84 such households earlier this month after breaking the locks, to screen for close contacts who might be hiding out to avoid isolation orders.

In a statement on Monday, district authorities admitted the action had been rude and insensitive, and promised to compensate those affected.

“The emergency household investigation practice is too simple and crude, and ignores residents’ feelings,” the statement from the district epidemic prevention and control headquarters said.

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Community workers and ground-level officials dismantled locks to enter the houses early on July 10 after some close contacts of recently confirmed Covid-19 patients were found holed up at home, some of whom tested positive later.

The whole process of lock removal and household inspection was recorded, and security personnel were sent to the buildings concerned to ensure protection of residents’ property, district officials said. But the residents, who were mostly sent to hotel quarantine, were not notified of the matter.

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“Our district is deeply saddened by this rude and wrong behaviour in epidemic prevention and control, and sincerely apologises to residents and the public,” Monday’s statement read.

An investigative team has been set up to punish those involved in the campaign, it added.

Xie Siru, a lawyer based in Beijing, slammed the search. “The neighbourhood committee has no right to add rights beyond those stipulated by law,” he posted on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok. “Such behaviour violated the laws on epidemic prevention and control, and may have infringed the private property rights of residents.”

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China’s strict zero-Covid policy has helped to keep overall cases low in the country, but over- zealous implementation by low-level government staff and temporary contract workers has sometimes sparked controversy and even misery for the very people the authorities say they are trying to protect.

Several conflicts between residents and neighbourhood committees have been reported since the pandemic began in early 2020. In Shangrao in Jiangxi province and Huizhou in Guangdong, pets were reportedly killed by epidemic prevention personnel while their owners were in quarantine.

Earlier this year, in Jiangsu province and in the city of Shanghai, residents complained that health officials had entered their homes for disinfection work without their permission.

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In Dandong, Liaoning province, a woman and her ailing father were threatened with detention after clashing with police while trying get to hospital in June. A public outcry prompted the city to announce a relaxation of lockdown measures.

And in January, two would-be mothers in Xian, Shaanxi province, suffered miscarriages after medical care was delayed over nucleic acid test requirements and other Covid controls during a citywide lockdown. Local health officials apologised for the tragedy, and several hospital staff were sacked or suspended.