Unherd, April 7, 2022

Freddie Sayers meets COVID camp resident Jane Polubotko

The biggest city in China is in complete lockdown, with no end date in sight. Cases are rising and the 26 million residents of Shanghai are not permitted to leave their homes at all — not even to buy groceries or walk the dog. Footage has emerged of eerily deserted streets, but reliable information about what is really going on inside the strictest “Zero Covid” regime in the world is hard to come by, owing to the Chinese Communist Party’s control of the media.

Now for the first time, UnHerd can reveal the reality of life inside the vast mandatory quarantine facility in Shanghai, erected within the Expo conference centre, to which infected individuals are sent.


// Timecodes //

00:00 - 01:40 - Introducing Jane Polubotko, resident of Shanghai’s COVID camp
01:40 - 04:07 - How did Jane end up inside the Shanghai Expo Centre COVID camp?
04:07 - 06:40 - How long has Jane been in the camp and when can she leave?
06:40 - 07:48 - What is life like inside Shanghai’s COVID camp?
07:48 - 09:04 - Is Jane able to access news about the war in her home country of Ukraine?
09:04 - 09:46 - What happens to residents with children or pets?
09:46 - 11:34 - How is Zero COVID China going?
11:34 - 13:43 - A tour of the Shanghai Expo Centre COVID camp
13:43 - 14:58 - Could Jane be sent to a police station if she tries to leave the covid camp?
14:58 - 15:34 - Jane gives us a view of COVID testing outside the camp
15:34 - 16:23 - Have any of the residents complained?
16:23 - 17:00 - What will Jane do if she’s still there in a few weeks?
17:00 - 17:44 - Concluding thoughts

Read the accompanying article here: https://unherd.com/thepost/inside-shanghais-zero-covid-camp/

Listen to the podcast version: https://shows.acast.com/lockdowntv-with-freddie-sayers/episodes/inside-chinas-zero-covid-camp