Fear of quarantine camps, not Covid-19 pandemic, is shutting Beijing down

There are serious ramifications to being exposed to Covid-19 in China — and not just infection. As the country confronts its biggest outbreak ever, residents in major cities are hunkering down because of the prospect of being sent to a quarantine camp or locked down at home.

Going out in the capital of Beijing means having to scan a QR code to enter venues like shops and restaurants, or to even take public transportation. 

Under the country’s ubiquitous contract-tracing surveillance system, visiting the same places as someone who later turns up infected can land one in a government isolation facility,