A year ago, the Chinese leadership suddenly ended its strict zero-Covid policy. In a short period of time, an estimated 90 percent of people became infected with Corona. But official information is missing.
Press conference in Beijing on December 7th last year. Mi Feng, spokesman for the National Health Commission, surprisingly announced the end of China’s strict zero-Covid policy. Almost all measures that had been in force for almost three years were suddenly lifted: compulsory quarantine and isolation, mass testing of entire cities with millions of inhabitants, contact tracing using mobile phone data and the help of apps.
“Health and travel codes are no longer checked when people travel to other regions – neither on departure nor on arrival. All authorities must implement this in accordance with the rules,” said the spokesman.
“It was a huge epidemic”
Because of the strict zero-Covid policy, there have been only a few corona cases in China for years. There was hardly any natural immunity from infections. Many people also felt safe and did not think it was necessary to get enough vaccinations. With the sudden removal of the measures, an estimated 90 percent of people became infected with the coronavirus within a few weeks, according to epidemiologist Ben Cowling from the University of Hong Kong.
“In people who were vaccinated with two or three doses at that time, the infections were usually quite mild. But among the unvaccinated, especially among the elderly in China, the infections were somewhat more severe,” he says. Unfortunately, many people probably died last winter. “My colleagues and I estimate around 1.5 million deaths across the country. Other estimates are a little lower, some a little higher. It was a huge epidemic.”
No official information on deaths
The Chinese state and party leadership is silent about the consequences of the outbreak. Death figures are being kept under wraps. To date, there is no comprehensible reason why the measures were ended so suddenly: without warning, without an intensified vaccination campaign, without preparing the hospitals and without stockpiling rapid tests and fever medication.
Observers assume that the virus was already out of control a year ago today. The increasingly contagious omicron variants simply could no longer be stopped. In addition, the measures were no longer affordable for many municipalities.
At the end of November last year there were even protests against the zero-Covid policy in several cities – including Beijing and Shanghai. Young people in particular took to the streets and held white, unprinted sheets of paper in the air to draw attention to the strict censorship in the country. That’s why many people talk about white paper protests. Although the police often did not take direct action against the protesters, many later ended up in prison or suffered other forms of repression.
More Respiratory infections circulate
And the Corona situation in China today, a year after the end of zero Covid? According to epidemiologist Cowling, many people with a Covid infection are still being treated in hospitals. Presumably more people would still need to be treated in hospital with Covid infections than with flu, even after a year with a lot of infections in China. “One difference: In other countries, people have been infected more often on average,” he says. “In Europe, many now have their third or fourth Covid infection. In China, many are now getting their second infection.”
The epidemiologist is surprised that there is still no comprehensive vaccination campaign in China – neither for Covid boosters nor for influenza. China is currently entering its first full winter without any protective measures. Many hospitals in northern China are already overcrowded. In addition to Covid and flu, there are other respiratory infections circulating. The World Health Organization (WHO) was concerned about this and demanded clarification from China in November.
The state and party leadership is trying to reassure people: the fact that more people are now becoming infected is completely normal because the measures have been removed. And: All cases involve illnesses that are already circulating; no new pathogens have been identified.
Benjamin Eyssel, ARD Beijing, tagesschau, December 7th, 2023 9:34 a.m