China’s expensive zero-Covid policy will continue

• China’s zero-Covid policy keeps infections and deaths low at considerable economic and societal cost.
• Last week, unfounded rumors of a departure from the costly policy sent Chinese stocks surging.
• Health officials say they will continue to eliminate Covid cases as soon as they arise.

Despite public outcry that its zero-Covid policy is costing lives, China remains steadfast.

Last week, unfounded rumors of a departure from the costly policy sent Chinese stocks surging, but at a news conference Saturday, Chinese health officials vowed to continue the country’s zero-tolerance approach to eliminating Covid cases as soon as they arise.

As new fast-spreading varieties make virus containment nearly impossible, the relentless battle has kept infections and deaths low at considerable economic and societal cost.

“Practice has demonstrated that our pandemic prevention and control policy and a series of strategic measures are entirely correct, and the most inexpensive and effective,” said Hu Xiang, a disease control official, when asked if China would change its Covid policies soon.

“We should stick to the idea of putting people and lives first, and the broader policy of limiting imports from outside and internal rebounds,” Hu stated.

The announcement dashed hopes for a loosening of restrictions, spurred by unconfirmed social media allegations that China was organizing a high-level committee to abandon zero-Covid. Last week, investors quickly bought Chinese businesses listed in mainland China, Hong Kong, and the US on rumors of a loosening.

The Chinese people was also disappointed by the commitment to zero-Covid, as many have become tired of the constant mass testing, centralized quarantine, and lengthy lockdowns.

After Xi Jinping began his norm-breaking third term with a ringing endorsement of his zero-Covid policy, public dissatisfaction and resentment have grown.

People are questioning the policy online after tragic cases tied to it.

A 55-year-old lady died Friday after falling from the 12th story of a locked apartment building in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia’s capital. After two cases, the facility was barricaded in late October.

The woman’s daughter was heard beating on the barricade and pleading for help in a widely shared audio message.

Open the gate! Open! She yelled, “Please.”

In another video, the daughter kneeled and cried beside her mother, who lay unmoving on the ground wearing a face mask.

A related hashtag on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, garnered half a billion views. The woman, who lived with her 29-year-old daughter, had anxiety issues, according to local authorities.

The woman’s death added to the country’s draconian lockdowns’ toll. After Covid restrictions delayed rescue operations, a 3-year-old boy in Lanzhou died of gas poisoning Wednesday.

As winter approaches, experts predicted a new wave of diseases and government lockdowns in China.

Official data showed 5,496 local illnesses in China on Sunday, a six-month high.

Guangzhou had over a third of the infections. The 19-million-person city’s Haizhu district is under lockdown because of the pandemic’s deadliest outbreak.

At a press conference Sunday, officials accused locals of spreading the illness by breaching lockdown regulations and dismantling barriers to collect daily necessities.

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