the failure of the zero Covid strategy

In China, Shanghai is now a deserted city, confined night and day, a first since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic. Faced with the Omicron variant which increased cases in the country, the preparation was not “not sufficient”, according to Ma Chunlei, general secretary of the Shanghai Communist Party. Officially, 6,331 new positive cases were detected in the city on Saturday April 2. Nearly 25 million people are locked up in their homes. No one can go out except for a few minutes, time to get tested. Screenings that are organized in small groups.

The population must follow strict instructions. “Some French people in China even have their front doors welded together to make sure they can’t get out”, says Me Laurianne Vallée-Dubroeucq, lawyer. Some neighbors deliver food using a drone. The confinement, which was only supposed to last a few days, has been extended. In protective gear, thousands of volunteers begin supplying residents at the foot of the buildings. China faces a lack of herd immunity and has a large number of people at risk, including four million senior citizens in Shanghai. There are 19 quarantine centers in the city, with sometimes difficult conditions.