China is easing some of the world’s most stringent anti-virus controls and authorities say new variants are weaker.
Ahead of the protests, the Communist Party promised to make “zero COVID” less costly and disruptive but said it was sticking to the overall containment strategy.
Despite the changes, Beijing and other cities are telling some residents to stay home or enforcing other restrictions on neighborhoods with infections. A newspaper reported last week that some Beijing residents who have mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 cases would be allowed for the first time to isolate themselves at home instead of going to one of China’s sprawling quarantine centers. The government has yet to confirm that.
“Policymakers are focusing their efforts on spurring growth,” Eurasia Group analysts said in a report. “However, even if China’s transition away from a strict zero-COVID policy is more decisive and accelerated, meeting public health milestones like increasing elderly vaccination will take months.”
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
China eases controls, gives no sign when 'zero COVID' endsChina is easing some of the world’s most stringent anti-virus controls and authorities say new variants are weaker.
Read more »
China’s COVID trapLONDON, U.K.—“Our COVID-19 policy is the most scientifically effective, the most economical, and yields the best result,” insisted the People’s Daily newspaper in China after mass public protests against the government’s zero-COVID policy last weekend. If President Xi Jinping believes that, he is in for a lot more trouble. The protests were unprecedented in their scale and daring. They broke out spontaneously in 12 cities across China after 10 lockdown-related deaths in the remote province of Xinjiang. All sorts of people took part, from students to workers to pensioners. A few even called for the dethroning of Xi and the Communist Party. That doesn’t mean the regime is on the brink of collapse. Public anger at the endless lockdowns and the resulting loss of income is strong, but the regime’s surveillance technology is excellent. There was relatively little official violence last weekend, but many of the protesters will have an unpleasant visit by the police in the coming days. Xi’s problem is that the protests will probably recur and may well escalate because over-long mass quarantines and lockdowns are a non-political issue that can unite almost everybody against the government’s policy. Or rather, against Xi’s personal policy, for he has deliberately chosen to portray zero-COVID as the greatest achievement of his time in office. That made sense in the first year of the pandemic, for China’s relentless lockdowns and mass testing campaigns saved a great many lives. Total COVID-related deaths in China have been around 5,000 out of a population of 1.4 billion. The United States, with less than a quarter of China’s population, had more than one million COVID deaths. Xi and his propagandists naturally used this contrast as evidence that both Chinese medicine and the Chinese political system were superior to their Western equivalents. Was he even aware that the zero-COVID policy could only be a stopgap until effective vaccines were developed, never a lasting solution? H
Read more »
Chinese immigration to Canada record high from 2015, as some flee zero-COVID strategyVANCOUVER — China’s zero\u002DCOVID lockdowns have been linked to a rare wave of protests across the country in recent weeks, and immigration industry experts say…
Read more »
Chinese cities ease curbs but full zero-COVID exit seen some way offBEIJING — More Chinese cities including Urumqi in the far west announced an easing of coronavirus curbs on Sunday as China tries to make its zero\u002DCOVID policy…
Read more »
Chinese immigration to Canada record high from 2015, as some flee zero-COVID strategyVANCOUVER — China's zero-COVID lockdowns have been linked to a rare wave of protests across the country in recent weeks, and immigration industry experts
Read more »
Chinese immigration to Canada record high from 2015, as some flee zero-COVID strategyVANCOUVER — China’s zero\u002DCOVID lockdowns have been linked to a rare wave of protests across the country in recent weeks, and immigration industry experts say…
Read more »