Sébastien Le Belzic, edited by Solène Delinger
, modified at
10:28 a.m., January 11, 2022
China has been practicing massive and systematic screening campaigns for two years now. Currently, more than 60 million people are affected and subjected to these mandatory tests, including children, every three days, or even every day, depending on the degree of risk. How did Beijing manage to set up this ultra efficient system?
China’s zero Covid policy is based on perfectly orchestrated test campaigns. 60 million Chinese are subject to these mandatory screenings, including children, every three days, or even every day, depending on the degree of risk. How did Beijing manage to set up such a system? Europe 1 takes stock.
Massive test
In Tianjin, it took only four hours for the authorities after the discovery of the first patient to organize the screening of 14 million people, at a rate of 2 million on average each day. The same is true in several cities in China and in total, nearly 60 million people are currently subject to mandatory screening tests.
Even stricter rules for foreigners
The scenario is the same each time, as this municipal official explains: “We receive the orders from the command post immediately after the reporting of cases and after a targeted investigation thanks to the list of people concerned in the residence, then in the neighborhood and finally in the district we make the necessary arrangements so that everyone takes the tests in an orderly manner “.
Outdoor stadiums or large outdoor car parks are then requisitioned and the tests are sometimes done 24 hours a day in the throat with results in less than six hours which are displayed on the health code of the cell phone, the only key to getting started. move around the country. For travelers returning from abroad, the rules are much stricter: up to three weeks of quarantine with daily tests, nose, throat, blood test and even rectal screenings.