VIDEO. “We are not afraid of the virus but of being sent to centers”: French people from Shanghai talk about confinement

A PCR test in the courtyard of his building, every other day.

This is Aline's only exit from her apartment since the re-containment of Shanghai, ten days ago.

"Even to take out the trash, it's not possible, we put them on the landing," explains the French 30-year-old, who arrived in China in 2019. When it's not a PCR test, it's an antigenic test that the health authorities drop him off on the landing.

"We have to do it every day and send a photo of the result", explains Jean, also an expatriate, recently arrived in the metropolis.

And if the result proves to be positive, "it's the catastrophy", replies the forty-something straight away.

“There was a case in the building next to ours.

They completely sealed the door with a lock,” says Aline.

Read alsoAfter Hong Kong, Shanghai: the separation of Covid-positive children is controversial

The moment of the test is a real source of anxiety.

“We are not afraid of the virus itself, we are afraid of being sent to centers”, confides the Spanish teacher.

People who test positive for Covid-19 are separated from their families and then placed in solitary confinement in dedicated quarantine centers without showers and constantly lit by artificial light.

Images of these huge rooms divided into rows of makeshift beds have circulated widely in the media and social networks.

“We can't imagine our seven-year-old daughter alone in a center.

It's scary," breathes Jean.