From the outside, it resembles an army base, an expanse the size of 45 football pitches filled with rows of austere, grey, three-storey buildings. The facility (pictured) on the outskirts of the southern city of Guangzhou is China’s first purpose-built quarantine centre for people arriving from abroad. Soon guests will begin moving in to its more than 5,000 rooms. For at least two weeks, whether fully vaccinated or not, they will live in isolation, their food brought to them by robots.

Since the early days of the covid-19 pandemic, China’s aim has been to eliminate the coronavirus entirely from within the mainland’s borders. Hong Kong and Macau have similar strategies. But even as the handful of other countries with “zero-covid” policies, including Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, move to relax them, China is holding out...

The Economist: How long can China’s zero-covid policy last?