(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) Despite China’s strict virus clearance policy, outbreaks have resurfaced in many places in China in recent days. After the partial city closure measures in Jilin, Shanghai and Shenzhen, starting this Tuesday (March 22), Shenyang’s residential quarters and villages will be under closed management. With the resurgence of the epidemic, the public is wondering whether the government’s “dynamic zero”, including the continuous inspection of the population, is still working.
Wang Hesheng, deputy director of China’s National Health Commission and director of the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Friday that “facts have proved that the ‘dynamic clearing’ approach is in line with China’s national conditions and scientific laws. The way is right and the effect is good. The prevention and control measures of “clearing zero” will have some impacts on production and life in some areas, but these impacts are short-term and limited in scope. It should be said that any prevention and control measures will have a certain price, but at the same time protecting people’s lives and safety. Compared to physical health, these costs are worth it.”
However, signs of a lack of transparency and consistency have also sparked public grievances, with some angry netizens posting comments online, while censors have been working overtime to step up their deletions, Reuters reported. There are many people working in Beijing living in Yanjiao, Hebei Province. Due to strict epidemic prevention measures, many people have difficulty returning home. Photos online (many of which have since been deleted) show residents lining up in the snow for test results.
According to People’s Daily Online, from 0-24:00 on March 21, there were 67 new confirmed cases of local new coronary pneumonia in Liaoning Province, including 7 cases reported in Shenyang City, 5 cases in Dalian City, and 55 cases in Yingkou City; 183 new local cases were reported. Asymptomatic infection. Starting from March 22, closed management has been implemented in residential areas and villages in Shenyang. Residents need to hold a negative nucleic acid test certificate within 48 hours and a resident pass for entry and exit. After the news was announced, it caused heated discussions among netizens. Someone left a message on Sina Weibo and wrote: “Shenyang can’t say it a few days in advance!” Others questioned the epidemic prevention measures: “Excessive epidemic prevention drives all hospitalized patients out of the hospital. Life is too hard, we have to make money.”
Strict epidemic prevention measures have also affected the livelihoods of many people. A courier in Changchun, Jilin province, told Reuters that 90% of the communities were closed and deliveries were stopped: “I have no choice but to wait for them to unblock. The city is hopeless.”
It’s only a matter of time before the next outbreak
Since the recent outbreak, not only people’s daily life has been disrupted, factories have been shut down, but logistics and transportation have also been affected. There are fears that China’s zero policy will disrupt the pace of recovery in sectors such as the service sector and further decelerate China’s already slowing economic growth. According to the website of the China Commission for Discipline Inspection, when Xi Jinping presided over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee on Wednesday (March 17), he emphasized that epidemic prevention work should reduce the social cost of “dynamic clearing”, and strive to achieve the greatest prevention and control effect at the least cost. Minimize the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development. The New York Times noted that this reflects concerns about slowing economic growth. The media quoted Jin Dongyan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, as saying that even if the Chinese authorities succeed in containing the current wave, it is only a matter of time before the next outbreak. That’s why China urgently needs to plan and learn how to live with the virus, he believes.
However, Liang Wannian, head of the expert group of the National Health Commission’s Leading Group for Epidemic Response and Disposal, believes that China cannot cancel the epidemic prevention measures like many other countries because the current vaccination rate, especially the vaccination rate of the whole course and booster shots, is not completely high. If it is not enough to form a solid immune barrier, it will inevitably make a large group of elderly, vulnerable and vulnerable people susceptible to infection. In an interview with CCTV’s “News 1+1”, he also added: “If China strengthens vaccination and accelerates scientific and technological research and development, including the research and development of drugs and vaccines, there may also be an opportunity. Changed, milder, with lower rates of transmission and disease, that’s our best chance.”
(Reuters, etc.)
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