In China, shorter confinements, but without notice in an attempt to stop Omicron

An employee tests a resident of a confined building in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, March 14, 2022. © cnsphoto, via Reuters

Text by: Stéphane Lagarde Follow

5 mins

Part of the inhabitants of Shenzhen return to work on Monday in the south-east of China, in Shenzhen, but the sanitary measures are tightening in the north-east.

Since Sunday March 20, the 4.5 million inhabitants of Jilin have been confined again.

In a China faced with the rebound of the pandemic due to the Omicron variant, the “ 

 ” strategy, known as “ 

 ”, leads to shorter confinement periods, but just as sudden in their application.

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From our correspondent in Beijing with

A vehicle has not been circulating in Tangshan since Sunday March 20.

This 24-hour measure should allow an army of white suits to track down the 7.7 million inhabitants of the Chinese steel capital.

If the decision of the local authorities, applied without notice, upsets the daily life of a megalopolis located two hours by car east of Beijing.

She doesn't stop smiling.

In any case, that's what the optimists want to believe in the comments under

.

Confined future husband

Large vintage glasses and enthusiasm to spare, the future bride wears the red of happy unions, the color also of the cushions, the bedspread and the lampshades of the room in which she is in the images.

The scarlet young woman smiles in

, even if the wedding could not take place in Tangshan in the end… for lack of a husband!

The day they had to say " 

 ", the latter woke up in quarantine by decision of the neighborhood committee.

His bride immediately packed her suitcase to join him, after performing a PCR test.

These stories

, these repeated tests are in all the conversations these days in China.

Because with Omicron, the locking measures differ according to regions, cities and even neighborhoods.

The SARSCoV2 variant particularly hits northeast China.

The health authorities report 1,542 new confirmed cases of contamination in the province of Jilin for the day of Sunday March 20, out of the 1,947 observed in 19 provinces and provincial cities, or 4,331 cases in total including the asymptomatic ones.

This slightly lower balance sheet seems low compared to other countries.

However, it continues to mobilize all energies in a highly vaccinated China, but

, as evidenced by the high mortality rate in Hong Kong.

Containment under the eye of drones

While waiting for the Chinese mRNA vaccines, the queues are getting longer in front of the screening tents against Covid-19 and the “short” confinements are multiplying.

Since midnight Sunday, the eponymous city of Jilin has imposed three days of strict confinement on its 4.5 million inhabitants.

The

, announced for its part a toughening of preventive measures.

Residents could until now leave their homes to go shopping twice a week, it is now over: only medical personnel and people in connection with the means of combating the epidemic are authorized to go out.

Same thing in the eastern province of Shandong where several

 :

“

, explains this Pekingese in French, worried about her parents contacted on WeChat messaging. 

Computers under the arms in Shenzhen in the event of closure

Total or semi-containment, but for shorter periods: the central government is asking that

be minimized to preserve the economy.

In Shenzhen, public transport is working again on Monday March 21, although not everyone can go back to work, explains this product designer at an IT manufacturer:

Total containment, or semi-containment, but for shortened durations: The central government asks local governments to minimize

to preserve the economy. 

In Shenzhen, after less than a week of confinement, public transport resumed on Monday March 21, and most administrations are working, but not everyone has returned to work, as this product designer at a major local IT brand where all employees have been working remotely for a month:

My boyfriend stays with me at home, because he does not have his 4 consecutive negative tests requested by our residence to go out.

Tomorrow it will be possible, it only takes one test within 48 hours, and we have a screening center inside our community open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

While some experts have been trying, for a few weeks now, to get public opinion used to living with a less dangerous variant than the previous ones, there is currently no question of leaving the " 

 " strategy, known as

“ 

 ,”

, head of the Covid-19 control and prevention team at the national health commission. 

A strategy likely to evolve at any time, hence

, some preferring to take their desktop computers with them, to be able to work from home, in the event of a new closure of the city.

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