Source:
https://scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3200589/mask-free-xi-shows-time-right-china-move-zero-covid
China/ Politics

Mask-free Xi shows time is right for China to move from zero-Covid

  • Challenge is to gradually relax control measures while making sure hospitals are not overwhelmed and deaths can be minimised
  • The shift from containment to mitigation of the virus is difficult but will not be achieved by lockdowns and mass testing
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and China’s President Xi Jinping at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Bali. Photo: Reuters

An interesting side note of last week’s G20 and Apec summits was Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ease as he mingled and chatted with other world leaders, without wearing a mask.

Footage released by Canadian media outlets of Xi’s famous rebuttal to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, also showed the assembled G20 leaders walking maskless around the Apurva Kempinski Hotel in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, although they were worn by the interpreters and assistants who flanked them.

The scenes of Xi comfortably interacting with people from across the globe without wearing a mask make it a perfect time to spread the message back home: Covid-19 – while still deadlier than influenza – is not as lethal in its later strains, and the country should prepare to embrace the process of a policy shift.

Just before Xi embarked on his whirlwind diplomatic tour, China relaxed its draconian Covid-19 restrictions with a package of 20 measures. So far, conflicting government announcements and different responses by local authorities have caused chaos.

For example, new guidelines issued this week – to clarify the implementation of the new measures – state that a community with one positive case will have to carry out PCR tests daily until no further infections are found for three consecutive days.

For this to be achieved, a large number of people will have to be quarantined, even though the central government’s earlier message was that mass lockdowns should no longer be used.

In addition, it is likely to take a long time to achieve three days of zero cases at a community level, given the high transmissibility of the virus.

In Beijing, a surge in infections to record levels has meant that Covid-19 measures have been tightened up in recent days.

People are asked to stay home as much as possible. Those living in buildings where an infection is found are either sent to a quarantine facility or barred from leaving their flats.

Everywhere in the world that has shifted from containment of the virus to a policy of mitigation has gone through a painful transition.

Examples such as Singapore, Australia and even Hong Kong show that when heavy-handed measures – like quarantine and compulsory PCR testing – are lifted, a surge of infections and deaths will follow.

This reality makes the change a delicate balancing act, to gradually relax control measures while making sure hospitals are not overwhelmed and deaths can be minimised as the virus sweeps through the population.

While getting the pace of any relaxation of restrictions right is tricky, it should be an important policy goal.

For a vast country like China, where healthcare resources are unevenly distributed, achieving this will not be easy, but that does not mean China should hold back from making the transition forever.

China’s first Covid deaths in 6 months tests its coronavirus policy easing

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China’s first Covid deaths in 6 months tests its coronavirus policy easing

Any gradual changes to minimise deaths and an overwhelming surge in case numbers will not be achieved by mass testing and lockdowns.

Nor will a planned transition to mitigation be effective while the narrative continues that China intends to maintain its zero-Covid policy, because the virus is already spreading too widely and too fast.

There have been more than 250,000 infections across the country in November so far, an official from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.

Given the official numbers are under-reported, eliminating transmission via lockdowns and testing is no longer a realistic option.

Many local authorities in China’s poorer areas no longer have the capacity or resources to carry out universal testing.

Shifting to a mitigation strategy is not something to be dismissed as lying down – tang ping – and mask-wearing and self-isolation after positive rapid test results, as well as vaccinations for the elderly, should be maintained.

But a clear message needs to be delivered to the public that China is preparing to shift, from containing the spread of the virus at any cost, to mitigating its impact on society as a whole.