China experiencing ‘deja vu’ effect in COVID-19 pandemic

BEIJING – While China appeared to have beaten the coronavirus for a long time thanks to the success of quarantine measures in Wuhan, where COVID-19 was initially discovered, extremely contagious delta and omicron strains causing outbreaks have rendered the measures permanent.

Due to breakouts in densely populated metropolitan cities such as Xian, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, which host major business and industry branches, mass viral tests, curfews, travel restrictions, and quarantine measures have become a common part of life in China in the previous six months.

China was able to almost entirely limit the COVID-19 epidemic until December 2021 thanks to its “zero-COVID policy” plan.

China’s “zero case” plan has been put to the test by the highly contagious omicron strain.

The policy, which includes quarantine, travel restrictions, and mass testing, is designed to decrease COVID-19 infections where they occur and break the chain of transmission.

The measures have sparked debate in the past due to their disruption of daily life and financial cost to the country.

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While other nations have largely eliminated their COVID-19 protective measures and begun normalisation processes, it is uncertain how China would adapt its combat strategy over time.

Closures have hampered output.

Because of the closure in Changchun, where the FAW Group (First Automotive Works Group) — the automotive corporation that manufactures world names — has factories, production has been halted.

Production was also disrupted by a week-long stoppage in Shenzhen, which is home to Chinese tech giants Huawei, Tencent, BYD, and Foxconn.

COVID-19 is making a comeback in China, with the economic capital Shanghai being the hardest hit.

To stop the spread of the deadly sickness, the 26-million-strong city instituted a strict lockdown and conducted many rounds of mass testing.

Many cases have also been reported in Beijing, which has taken drastic efforts to stop the spread of the virus.

Over the last 24 hours, China has reported 324 new cases, seven fatalities, and 817 recoveries.
Since the outbreak began in December 2019, China has reported 220,721 confirmed cases, including 5,198 deaths.