Advertisement
Is it time for China to ease pandemic controls and learn to live with the virus?
- As authorities battle a widespread outbreak, the Delta strain is putting the zero-tolerance strategy to the test
- And as other countries start to open up, some public health experts are asking if the rules should be relaxed
Reading Time:6 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
95
The coronavirus had been largely under control in China for months, until a handful of Nanjing airport workers tested positive.
They had cleaned a plane that arrived from Moscow with an infected passenger on board.
Less than three weeks later, the outbreak has spread to at least 17 provinces, fuelled by the highly transmissible Delta variant and amid the busy summer travel season.
While the case numbers are relatively low – about 700 infections so far since July 20 – health authorities are on high alert, seeing it as their biggest challenge since Wuhan at the start of the pandemic.
Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan told officials on Wednesday to make it their top priority to stop the spread of the Delta variant, saying the situation was “uncertain” and a nationwide inspection of pandemic controls in places like hospitals and clinics would look for any weak points.
The Delta strain is putting China’s zero-tolerance or elimination strategy to the test, as authorities try to keep case numbers low by quarantining arrivals, mass testing, vigorous contact tracing, lockdowns, travel curbs and other measures – an approach also taken in places like Australia and New Zealand.
Advertisement