On Tuesday, the country recorded more than 20,000 new cases – well beyond the peak of Wuhan in 2020, at the start of the pandemic. Although this number is still much lower than in many other countries, it is a dramatic rise for China, which has adhered to a strict zero-Covid strategy aimed at eliminating all outbreaks and transmission chains using border controls. , mass tests, quarantines and strict lockdown. The viability of this policy is now in question, as newer, highly contagious variants of Covid continue to spread throughout the population. Here’s what you need to know about the latest outbreak.
Which parts of China are affected?
In early March, cases began to rise in several provinces across the country, including Shandong in the east, Guangdong in the south and Jilin in the northeast. By the end of the month, the virus had spread to 29 of China’s 31 provinces, according to the National Health Commission (NHC). 90% of all cases detected in March came from Jilin and Shanghai, the two largest hotspots. Many cities, collectively hosting more than 37 million people, went through different quarantine levels in March. Many of those lockdowns eased by early April – leaving Shanghai more extreme as authorities struggled to bring its affairs under control. So far, only two deaths from Covid have been officially reported during this wave, both from Jilin in March.
How is life under lockdown?
The Shanghai measures were extended and extended as the situation worsened. In late March, the Shanghai government denied plans for a lockdown across the city – even saying the reports were “untrue” and disrupting “social order.” On March 27, the government announced it would launch a gradual lockdown, targeting half the city first and then the other half. By March 31, the government had abandoned its escalating approach, effectively imposing a lockdown on the entire city and the 25 million residents who were barred from leaving their neighborhoods in addition to taking exams. Mandatory city-wide tests have seen an increase in cases, officials said – something that has prompted them to extend the lockdown until further notice, while “testing more, reviewing results, delivering positive cases and analyzing Covid’s overall condition”. To enforce these measures and meet the demands of the entire excluded population, more than 30,000 doctors and 2,000 soldiers have been sent to the city, according to state media and the People’s Liberation Army. But the restrictions have also seen a rare wave of public frustration and criticism of the government, with residents describing the challenges of accessing basic supplies such as food or medicine. Anger erupted last month after an out-of-service nurse in Shanghai died after she was removed from the emergency department at her own hospital, which was closed for disinfection. Another Shanghai resident died after receiving emergency medical treatment at his home before reaching the hospital. “It’s not Covid that kills us, but Covid’s control measures,” he said in a popular comment on China’s highly-censored Weibo social media platform. There has also been new outrage over Shanghai policy that requires all Covid-positive patients to be isolated in facilities – even young children and babies. A mother told CNN she was separated from her infected 2-year-old daughter on March 29 and was not allowed to go into solitary confinement to stay with her daughter until a week later. On Monday, a quarantine center in Shanghai inaugurated a parent-child quarantine facility. And on Wednesday, Shanghai health authorities announced they would change the policy, allowing negative parents to apply for permission to accompany Covid-positive children with “special needs.” They did not specify which conditions would be described as “special needs”. Parents who are positive can also accompany their Covid-positive children to quarantine facilities.
Which variant is spreading?
Omicron led this wave, with localized cases showing both BA.1 – the original Omicron – and other genealogical genealogies, including BA.1.1 and BA.2. BA.2, first identified in January, is now the leading cause of Covid-19 worldwide and the leading strain in the United States, according to the World Health Organization and US health authorities. Since its rise, international cases – which have been declining since the first week of January – are rising again. Studies also show that BA.2 is much more contagious – although researchers are still studying the severity of this variant. Some epidemiologists have said that the basic number of reproduction can be up to 12, which means that each patient infects an average of 12 others. This would bring it to the same level as measles, which is also transmitted through the air. The base number for BA.1 is estimated to be around 8.
Will China insist on zero Covid?
As the outbreak spread, experts and international observers speculated that this wave, China’s most contagious variant, and China’s mass vaccination campaign could bring an end to zero Covid. As of Friday, about 78 percent of the country’s 1.4 billion people had been fully vaccinated, according to the NHC. Prior to the outbreak, scientists and leaders had hinted at reviewing the strategy, with a leading epidemiologist writing to Weibo in early March that zero Covid “would not remain unchanged forever.” But that now looks like the distant future, with Chinese authorities making it clear that they consider the alternative – the nationally rampant virus, potentially flooding the health system – to be the worst choice. Wu Zunyu, chief epidemiologist at the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday that China would “continue to focus on the dynamic Covid Zero policy,” according to the state-run tabloid Global Times. The loosening of restrictions and the opening of borders observed in other countries could “cause many problems such as (compression) of medical resources and an increase in deaths,” he added. And on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chunlan told Shanghai that the city needed “a more determined stance, stronger action and more effective coordination” to achieve zero Covid.
