<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/29/chinese-cost-covid-xi-lockdowns-china>
"When Sunny* thinks back to March last year, she laughs ruefully at the ordeal.
The 19-year-old Shanghai student spent that month locked in her dormitory,
unable to shop for essentials or wash clothes, even banned from showering for
two weeks over Covid fears. In April, the entire city locked down.
It was the beginning of the chaos of 2022, as local Chinese authorities
desperately tried to follow President Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid decree while
facing the most transmissible strain of the virus yet: Omicron. “Everyone was
panicking, no one was ready,” she tells the Observer.
By the end of the year, zero-Covid was gone. Sunny says she felt instantly
“relieved” that lockdowns were over but her feelings soon turned to anger as it
became clear China’s government had opened up the country, knowing it wasn’t
ready. “I felt it was all for nothing,” Sunny says.
Over the last two months, the virus has rapidly spread through the country. Up
to 10,000 critical cases were registered in hospitals every day. Morgues were
overwhelmed, pharmacies reported shortages of basic medications, and supply of
antiviral drugs was held up by protracted negotiations with foreign suppliers.
Online and in the streets, people spoke of almost everyone they knew having
caught Covid, and of elderly relatives dying.
Sunny’s grandfather was among those who died in that wave. “It was the morning,
and my mum walked into my room and said: your grandpa is in the emergency
room,” she recalls. “A few hours later, he passed away. My grandmother was in
tears, saying he had left her behind.”
Xi’s extraordinary backflip left analysts alarmed and confused. China was not
the only country to choose a zero-Covid strategy, and certainly not the only
one to “let it rip” once it dropped it. But it was the last, and global health
experts say there were plenty of lessons it could have heeded – primarily,
making sure vaccinations and health resources were high before the tsunami of
cases hit."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
