Between permanent screenings for 1.4 billion people and repeated confinements, the effects of the zero Covid strategy seem endless. Many Chinese no longer hesitate to express their anger.
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A video, posted by a young mother, made the rounds on social networks. She can no longer bear to see her 8-year-old son tested every day in the throat. “I am the mother of a student in a primary school in Shanghai and I request the cancellation of daily PCR tests for students. There are still zero cases of Covid, so why are children tested every day? adults don’t need it to ride the subway or go to office. May I ask Shanghai Education Administration under which article do you test children daily?, she laments. And she insists: “The Board of Education is not allowed to establish its own prevention policy and enforce restrictions. Is this legal?”
“It poses a health risk to children, with chemicals that are put in their mouths every day.”
A young motherfranceinfo
A resident of Beijing, who wanted to remain anonymous, refuses to do the tests because, according to him, all these health restrictions are a way of strengthening surveillance on the population. “We all know that there is a desire for control and totalitarianism. All these tests and these health codes constitute an attack on privacy and dignity”he explains.“In my opinion, about a fifth of the people of Beijing do not accept these permanent tests in their daily life. In the countryside, this resistance is much more difficult. The villages are strictly controlled and the punishment is harsher than in Beijing”he adds.
With the confinements, the Chinese cannot live normally, nor work and earn a living. This driver who works in Beijing, and who lives in the neighboring province of Hebei, can no longer go to his company each time a case of Covid appears. “I have been confined for almost two months in total since the Chinese New Year. I find that the sanitary measures are exaggerated by the local government. People have apartment loans, the family has to be fed, people are anxious. Some, depressed, committed suicide. There was a case in our residence”he confides.
“I’m afraid to go home at night because if there are cases, the bus stops at the border between Beijing and Hebei Province, and after that I have to walk about an hour to go home. me.”
Not only are the Chinese no longer allowed to travel abroad, but inside the country it has also become almost impossible. With health restrictions, holidays on the other side of China can turn into a real nightmare. Peter Chao has experienced this. This Pekingese went to the south of the country for a stay at Club Med with his 6-year-old son. He found himself confined to the place. A traumatic experience.
“My morale was low because no one told us what was going to happen to us, how long we were going to stay. I really had a lot of anxiety because we couldn’t leave the room. The instructions and orders came over the loudspeaker. Their attitude was like in a prison. I felt like I felt what my parents went through during the Cultural Revolution. Now I don’t want to travel anymore.”he admits.
The authorities have clearly perceived the anger and exasperation of part of the population. Comments against the zero Covid policy are systematically censored on social media. On several occasions in recent days, local governments have formally apologized for abuses. But not enough to calm the weariness of many Chinese.