China’s Covid-Zero policy has led to food shortages, extreme lockdowns, and appalling centralized facilities. As the Omicron variants spread throughout China, approximately 373 million people in 45 cities were under full or partial lockdowns as of April 11th, 2022. There is an increasing number of residents that are unable to find food, medicine, and other essentials.

Ye Qing, a law scholar, wrote in an online article that has since then been deleted, “They’re not countering the pandemic. They’re creating disasters.” Beijing’s approach has been to mass test, quarantine, and lockdown, putting millions of lives on hold. Frustrated cries for help have circulated on Weibo, China’s popular blogging platform, with one comment stating, “No matter where you live, whether you have money or not, you have to worry about what else you can eat and how you can buy things.”

Shanghai has locked down its 25 million residents and grounded many of its delivery services around early April, disrupting supply chains. The result was that many people now have trouble finding food sources, regardless of their socioeconomic status. The shortages, particularly in Shanghai, sent residents of other cities in China into a hoarding craze, with supermarkets in Beijing packed.

Shanghai residents also live in fear of testing positive and being forced into centralized quarantine facilities. The conditions of these facilities have been deemed so appalling that they have been called “refugee camps’ and ‘’concentration camps’ on social media. The lights remain on at all times, there are no shower facilities, and some were so poorly prepared that people fought over food, water, and bedding. Ultimately, this is not an ideal environment for people who are sick with a highly contagious virus. While other countries have allowed non-serious cases to quarantine at home, China’s Zero-Covid policy requires that people with the virus go to these centralized quarantine facilities.

President Xi’s strategy is motivated by the fact that he is seeking a third term at the Communist Party congress later in 2022. Xi wants to use the success of China in containing the virus to prove that its model of governance is superior to liberal democracies.

The problem with China’s extreme Covid-Zero strategy is that it is leading to more issues – food shortages, appalling centralized facilities, and extreme lockdowns. These poorly executed lockdowns have caused chaos, tragedies, and severe food shortages, which resulted in eight mid-level officials being removed or suspended from their positions.

Other countries have found success with less extreme policies. It is essential to find the balance between radical Covid policies and economic policies, particularly ones regarding food supply chains.