People queue for coronavirus tests in Beijing’s Dongcheng district on April 26. Authroities announced mass testing of the city’s 21 million residents as fears of a Shanghai-style lockdown sparked stockpiling of food. Photo: AP
Opinion
Opinion
Zero-Covid at all costs is exposing the flaws in China’s top-down approach
- China’s uncertainty over the consequences of relaxing pandemic rules is driving its dogged approach, with local governments forced to take drastic measures to meet objectives
- Yet such policy inflexibility, amid much greater public awareness of the virus and at the expense of livelihoods, is fuelling discontent
People queue for coronavirus tests in Beijing’s Dongcheng district on April 26. Authroities announced mass testing of the city’s 21 million residents as fears of a Shanghai-style lockdown sparked stockpiling of food. Photo: AP
