Letters | China sticking with ‘dynamic zero-Covid’ strategy because it’s best for the country
- Readers discuss China’s choice to stick with its ‘zero-Covid’ strategy, quarantine rules in Hong Kong and Novak Djokovic’s obligations as a role model
My heart goes out to those people who have been inconvenienced by China’s “dynamic zero-Covid” strategy.
However, China cannot afford to ignore the scientific protocol for the control of infectious diseases considering the expenses on healthcare for a population of 1.4 billion people and the huge financial losses it would incur if Covid-19 is allowed to spread freely.
Covid-19 is a new virus that will take time to analyse if we hope to contain or possibly eradicate it. Immunisation, isolating the infected, quarantining close contacts, wearing masks in public places, observing personal hygiene at all times and keeping a safe distance between people are the fundamental rules for controlling infections.
Granted, untrained officials who do not have the will or the ability to follow orders to oversee the preventive process properly can cause resentment among the public.
Sadly, Western countries, driven by a powerful moneymaking engine and the political government, adopted the strategy of living with the virus at too early a stage. Under this strategy, the virus can easily have a large number of hosts for it to keep mutating from one variant to another, causing high numbers of deaths and infections.