Health authorities announced on Wednesday a general relaxation of anti-Covid-19 health measures. Consequences: difficult to have reliable figures on the epidemic. It is no longer possible to collectively test the population and the results of the PCR are struggling to arrive as the positive cases are soaring.
With our correspondent in Beijing, Stephane Lagarde and Louise May
“ Beijing Kaifengle! » (Beijing is open), launches this tester agent, white jumpsuit, gloves and visor, a little lost in the face of this general shift in health policy in less than 72 hours, reminiscent of the decision to close the Chinese borders overnight on March 28, 2020. The removal of controls and restrictions has resulted in a leap in contamination.
Result: the results of the PCR tests at this still open screening station in the Chinese capital are coming in dribs and drabs. “ I don’t know exactly why, but the results are late. It’s because of the labs. There are too many positive cases, they can no longer meet the demand and it is very slow. »
According to hebe newspaperIprovince neighboring the capital, responses to Covid tests would be slowed down due to the high inflation of positive tubes during collective tests and “zero Covid” soldiers in full suits, tired and no longer numerous enough to go and test, at the gate door, the presumed contaminated.
“ Be responsible for your health »
What makes reading the numbers difficult, but does not prevent humor on social networks : “ If you don’t know a single positive case, you need to review your social attitude », or “ no one can escape the two red bars in Baoding », notes a user quoted by sinologist Maya Koetse. The city located 150 kilometers southwest of Beijing is completely red on the infection map. “ The average temperature today was 38.8 degrees writes another commenter alluding to Covid fever.
About Baoding: “9 new cases in Baoding yesterday? In my family alone there are 12 cases already” and: “The lowest temperature in Baoding today is minus 2 degrees, and the average temperature is 38.8 degrees [fever].” “Nobody in Baoding can escape the two bars!” pic.twitter.com/E49jnwoBEa
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) December 8, 2022
“ Be responsible for your health », say in a very serious way this time the official slogans. Residence or neighborhood committees, previously on alert for the slightest case of contamination, now respond to those who test positive that they must fend for themselves at home and prevent emergencies if the symptoms become serious. Fortunately, there are videos on social networks that offer instructions for using the Covid at home: how to do your self-test and quarantine yourself?
The fear of stop and go
If it’s negative, this young computer programmer only dreams of one thing. “All I want is to go home to my province. But I’m afraid that everything will close when I come back. With the increase in cases, the policy is not stable. Today, they say, we open! But tomorrow, if we go back, it will be very difficult for me. »
The fear of the sanitary yo-yo and stop and go is shared by some of the travelers now authorized to take the train without having to present a negative Covid test. New closures could indeed occur if the health system finds itself in a few weeks overwhelmed by the strongest epidemic wave that China has experienced since the start of the pandemic.