‘ Absurd’ coronavirus control measures expose complexity of rural management

Officials tied a man to a tree during a COVID- 19 lockdown; villagers got slapped when playing mahjong when coronavirus was still rife … incidents that occurred in Chinese rural areas’ epidemic prevention efforts have stirred a firestorm of online criticism, with many denouncing such moves as simple and crude.

Chinese sociologists said that these “absurd” incidents showed the complexities and loopholes of rural areas’ management of the epidemic, and they urged local officials to use humane means while adopting strict measures.

Recently, a video showing a village official in Gaocheng district in Shijiazhuang, North China’s Hebei Province tying an elderly villager to a tree after he insisted on going out to buy cigarettes during a lockdown, has ignited outrage on Chinese social media.

The district government issued a notice on Wednesday, saying that the official has been suspended from his post and the public security organ started to look into the incident.

Similar cases occurred in China in the early stages of the epidemic last year, when village officials were overstretched in trying to stop social activities, including tying a villager who refused to wear a mask to a pillar and slapping people for playing mahjong together.

Rural areas have their own complexity and loopholes in regard to epidemic management. For example, people in rural areas are prone to gregarious lifestyles, and they are more negligent about hygiene, said Zhang Yiwu, a professor at Peking University.

Zhang said villagers are less sensitive to traditional preaching about epidemic control measures, which have driven local officials to exert more direct measures to regulate those groups.

“Officials have to adopt measures that are more acceptable to villagers, while paying special attention to not going so far as to violate their rights or be rude,” said Zhang, urging grassroots officials to find a balance between strict measures, and a humane approach.