Since 2020, Beijing has imposed strict health measures, in the name of a so-called “zero Covid” policy which has made it possible to protect those most at risk and those who are poorly vaccinated.

For nearly three years, rare were the Chinese to know in their entourage a person sick with Covid.

But the power ended without notice most of the restrictions in early December amid growing exasperation among the population and a considerable impact on the economy.

Since then, Covid cases in China have exploded and a large part of the Chinese are left to fend for themselves, at a time when fever medication and self-tests are lacking in the face of exponential demand.

Amidst shortages, at least a dozen pharmaceutical companies have been ordered to "guarantee supply" of key drugs -- a euphemism for requisitioning.

Wiz Biotech, a manufacturer of antigenic tests in Xiamen (east), indicated on its official account the "requisition" of its production by the local authorities.

A representative of Wiz Biotech confirmed the measurement to AFP.

"The mess"

In Beijing, the authorities have sent additional staff to six kit manufacturers to help them "increase production", according to a note from the municipality.

These decisions make it possible to "secure production, but logistics are still far from smooth [...] in hospitals and pharmacies", admits Zhou Zhicheng, head of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

People buy fever medicine on December 20, 2022 in Nanjing, eastern China © STR / AFP / Archives

"It's a bit of a mess" because of "excessive purchases" and people who "order twice", complains to AFP Mr. Zhou.

"My whole family is sick and I can't buy medicine for the fever", plague Yanyan, 32, an employee of Chengdu (southwest), a huge metropolis known for its pandas.

On Thursday, a dozen pharmacies contacted by AFP across China reported shortages of fever medication.

"We haven't had any for a week or two at all [...] I still have a few painkillers left, but very few. I have to leave you, I have customers waiting", indicates on the telephone an employee who did not wish to give his name, in Yinchuan in Ningxia (north).

"I have just received 30 new vials (of paracetamol) and there are (already) only 13 left", explains 2,000km away a pharmacy in Jilin (north-east), close to North Korea.

“Each person can only buy one bottle”, specifies an employee, advising to “hurry up”.

Domino effect

In a tight situation, Zhuhai, a city bordering Macau (south), now limits the purchase of fever tablets to six per week and on presentation of an identity document.

Several metropolises including Nanjing (east) and Shenzhen (south) have taken similar measures.

Empty shelves in a pharmacy on December 17, 2022 in Beijing, China © Jade GAO / AFP/Archives

Near Shanghai, the city of Hangzhou (east) calls on its inhabitants to buy drugs in a “rational” way.

"Don't stockpile blindly, leave the drugs to those who really need them."

In Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous territory, there is also a raid on over-the-counter anti-flu drugs, despite a largely stabilized and incomparable health situation with the rest of China.

“Last week, people bought a dozen or twenty boxes of [paracetamol] to send them to neighboring mainland China,” a pharmacy employee told AFP, who did not wish to reveal his name.

The biggest local brand now limits purchases of fever, cough and cold medicines.

In Taiwan, an island considered by China as part of its territory but administered in fact by its own government, the same frenzy is observed.

Local authorities said Thursday they are considering limitations.

As Covid cases surge in China, hospitals in major cities are filling up with elderly patients.

In Shanghai, AFP saw the corridors of an overwhelmed emergency department on Thursday, with patients on stretchers and on life support.

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© 2022 AFP