Why China is still trying to achieve zero Covid

[superadmin]

Around the world people are getting used to post-lockdown life with vaccines doing the heavy lifting against Covid-19 as restrictions are eased. In China however, a hard elimination policy remains where the pandemic first began.

A person walks into a five-star hotel to ask briefly for directions and ends up in two weeks quarantine because a guest had some coronavirus contact. One crew member on a high-speed train has close contact with an infected person, and a trainload of passengers is sent to quarantine for mass testing. In Shanghai Disneyland, 33,863 visitors suddenly have to undergo mass testing because a visitor the day before got infected.

Welcome to life in the country which now feels like a perpetual, back-to-zero-Covid world.

China was the first country to impose restrictions to combat this pandemic and it will be one of the last to ease them.

When you speak to ordinary Chinese people in the street, you will find that many do not seem to mind the continued strict anti-virus measures as long as they are kept safe.

I asked one woman whether China should open faster and she said it would be best to wait until the pandemic is sorted out properly because safety is number one.

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