In recent days, the city of Guangzhou has launched a large-scale “mosquito control” operation to prevent mosquito-borne infectious diseases such as dengue fever. However, local residents have voiced concerns that some communities have taken extreme measures to prevent mosquito breeding in stagnant water, such as sealing off green belts with cement and covering drainage holes with adhesive tape. The authorities’ excessive epidemic prevention measures have sparked controversy.
On August 15, residents in various areas of Guangzhou, such as Baiyun District and Liwan District, posted online to express that in order to prevent mosquito breeding in stagnant water, communities have directly sealed off green belts and soil around tree roots with cement. They have even covered street drainage holes with adhesive tape, leaving only one permeable hole.
The accompanying images in the posts show green belts covered with thick cement, with tree roots exposed, ironically with a sign nearby saying, “Everyone is responsible for caring for the greenery.”
The excessive epidemic prevention measures by the authorities have raised concerns among many internet users, with comments like “If it’s sealed off so tightly, how will the plants survive?”, “How will water drain during rainy days?”, and “At some point, greenery and mosquitoes have become opposing forces, it’s really too simplistic and crude.”
According to a report from Jiangsu Television via live broadcast on August 17, Mr. Yin (a pseudonym) expressed that he had never seen such practices before. It might be due to recent treatments of greenery on residential and commercial rooftops in Guangzhou to prevent mosquito breeding. However, this approach is deemed too simplistic and crude.
In response to the situation, the Songzhou Subdistrict Office in Baiyun District, Guangzhou stated that they are verifying the relevant circumstances, and the specific reasons have not been disclosed yet.
Last July, Guangdong Province experienced an outbreak of dengue fever in 12 cities, prompting local authorities to carry out large-scale mosquito control and community inspection operations to combat the epidemic. This led to various chaotic scenes in epidemic prevention. For example, green belts were shaved off, authorities in Jiangmen demanded that residents surrender keys to allow entry for mosquito control, unauthorized removal of potted plants from private residences, and widespread spraying of insecticides or demolition of old structures in agricultural markets, all of which were heavily criticized for being excessive measures.