Are China-style lockdowns the answer to containing the coronavirus?

The World Health Organisation has praised Chinese efforts to reduce the spread of the pathogen but says there’s no one-size-fits-all model

Each country will have to weigh economic, health and political considerations to determine what works best for them, specialists say

Reading Time:5 minutes

The central Chinese city of Wuhan went into lockdown in late January. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:00pm, 8 Mar 2020Updated: 11:00pm, 8 Mar 2020

When Chinese authorities made the decision, it went into effect immediately.

In an effort to contain the coronavirus epidemic, entire cities, including Wuhan, the epicentre of the contagion, went into lockdown in the central Chinese province of Hubei in late January.

Nearly 60 million people were largely confined to their cities by central government decree, with school and work cancelled across the country.

That effort appeared to start paying off last week as China reported fewer than 200 new cases of fresh infection each day, down from last month when there were several days with more than 3,000 new cases.

With the coronavirus already detected in more than 90 countries and caseloads climbing more quickly abroad than within China, governments are scrambling to find the best methods to keep the contagion at bay.

But how much can other countries borrow from China’s coronavirus playbook, given the toll the limits take on personal freedom and economic activity?

So far, China is the only country that has dealt with a large scale outbreak and brought surging case numbers under control, at least for now.

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