China’s Covid turnaround: with an announcement into chaos

China’s controversial zero-Covid policy has bought the country one thing: time. But the government failed to use them for an orderly exit from the pandemic. Now the state and party leadership have capitulated.

For two and a half years, the narrative in China was: only the Chinese Communist Party can protect human life – all other governments don’t care about human life. State and party leader Xi Jinping has described “zero Covid” as the only right way. State television evening news often showed normal life due to low infection rates in China, while showing overcrowded intensive care units and chaos elsewhere – especially in the United States.

Reference was also made to this: While in the most populous country in the world, according to official figures, just over 5,000 people died of Covid-19, in the USA it was more than a million. In reality, the number in China is likely to be significantly higher, but the fact is: significantly fewer people have died in China than elsewhere due to the strict zero-Covid policy.

The state and party leadership has capitulated

But all that has now been thrown head over heels overboard. Instead of the dangerous virus, officials and state media are now talking about the harmless omicron variant, the course of which is usually mild: Please isolate at home, do not go to the hospital even with a fever! That’s not particularly credible. The corona apps that were common until recently are becoming meaningless, and PCR test stations are being dismantled. The official infection numbers have been falling for days – even if it feels like half of all people in Beijing have Corona at once.

The highly contagious omicron subtypes are now eating through the land at breakneck speed. Hospitals are already partially overburdened, and people are unsettled. A 180 degree turn. The communist state and party leadership has capitulated. The highly contagious omicron subtypes could no longer be stopped, the economy in free fall, plus protests.

Missed the time

It didn’t have to be like that. Think what you will of China’s strict zero-Covid policy. But it has given China air and time. Time to prepare for an orderly exit, to significantly increase intensive care bed capacities, to distribute Covid medication in the country, to ensure that there are enough rapid tests and, above all, to vaccinate the elderly population sufficiently.

You could have opened in an orderly manner last spring or summer, step by step, with clear communication. But the state and party leaders missed all of that, feeling too safe with their policies. Instead, vast sums of money were put into quarantine camps and mass testing.

Now something has happened that international experts have been warning about for a long time: Suddenly epidemic is announced. People are left to their own devices overnight – and that in winter, when the virus spreads even more easily.

Hundreds of thousands could die

Of course, the situation is different: Yes, the variants are milder than at the beginning of the pandemic. We know a lot more, plus there are vaccines. Nevertheless, Corona is still dangerous, life-threatening for many. It is to be hoped that China will come through this wave unscathed.

It is likely to be the largest corona wave that a country has ever experienced. However, it is to be feared that hundreds of thousands of people will die. Some experts even assume up to two million dead. The world will probably never know the exact number. But the images of overcrowded intensive care units will be difficult to hold back even for the censors. Before the situation in China gets any better, things should get really bad first. Much of this could have been avoided.