The distressing case of a Chinese pregnant woman who was unable to seek medical care and had a miscarriage after a strict lockdown has reignited the debate about the limitations of China’s zero tolerance attitude towards Covid-19.

The country where the coronavirus was first detected in 2019 is now one of the last countries to still insist on “zero Covid”, even as Beijing prepares to host the Winter Olympics next month, millions of people are still in quarantine.

-How does China maintain “zero epidemic”? ——

China has a method called “dynamic zero” to contain the epidemic: strict lockdown and immediate large-scale testing.

Unlike soft lockdowns in other places, if Chinese are considered high-risk contacts, they may be prohibited from leaving their buildings or forced to stay in hotel rooms.

The historic city of Xi’an, home to the famous terracotta warriors and horses, was sealed off in December. After about 150 cases were detected, its 13 million residents were forced to stay indoors.

The city of Zhengzhou of a similar size tested every resident after only 11 cases. International flights are only a small part of the pre-pandemic level, and immigrants are subject to strict quarantine for several weeks.

Mandatory tracking and tracing applications mean that close contacts are usually quickly detected and isolated.

-Is it effective? ——

Since the beginning of the pandemic, China’s official statistics have just exceeded 100,000, which is only a small fraction of the record of 1 million recorded in a single day in the United States earlier this month.

The official death toll has remained below 5,000.

Although it is widely believed that the initial chaotic cases in Wuhan in early 2020 were underreported, life has basically returned to normal since then.

National Health Commission official Liang Wannian told reporters last month: “Currently, there is no ability to prevent the emergence of a single local case, but we have the ability and confidence to quickly extinguish the epidemic after the detection of a local case.”

-Who pays? ——

“Zero Covid” comes at a price.

The border areas, especially the areas close to Myanmar, have been under lockdown almost all the time, and a large number of companies have flowed out.

The locked-down communities complained about the lack of access to food, supplies and medical care.

At the same time, due to onerous travel rules and restrictions, migrant workers have been stranded with their families for several months.

Strict law enforcement sometimes provokes anger. For example, after the owner of a corgi is quarantined, health workers beat him to death.

Analysts said that although China is the only major economy to grow in 2020, the repeated closure of factories and companies has caused the country’s economy to slow down.

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times