All About China Covid Zero Policy |COVID-19|

China Covid Zero Policy – The infection of COVID-19 became the first pandemic of the 21st century which caused millions of deaths around the world, and it is still raging even after 2 ½ years.

Politicians and most health experts around the world believe that COVID-19 originated in China back in November 2019 when a huge number of people in Wuhan province, both China, started reporting similar symptoms.

Even today, Chinese authorities have not approved the origin of COVID-19 in their country despite all the allegations and proof. Most health experts and the World Health Organization have already mentioned publicly that COVID-19 originated in China and is still raging in the world.

The origin of COVID-19 is not our topic, and we are here to discuss China’s policy. We will take a look at how the Chinese have been reshaping the whole of COVID-19 and preparing for any other pandemic.

What is China COVID Zero Policy?

Most countries around the world, including the United States of America, have decided to live with COVID-19 and consider it a general disease. But, the situation of COVID-19 in China is not as simple as it seems in other Western countries. 

On 16th October 2022, during a speech at the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist party in Beijing, President Xi Jinping described COVID-19 as an all-out people’s vote to stop the spread of the virus.

In short, China’s COVID zero policy focuses on stamping out the coronavirus by the use of harsh blunt weapon techniques. They do not think about the comfort of the general public as they believe in pain and disruption.

No doubt, COVID-19 has been taking a heavy toll on the Chinese people and its economy. We are even getting some reports about the protests from the Haidian district in Beijing.

We saw many reports where Chinese officials had mass testing, and people who were found to have tested positive for the virus were thrown into quarantine under heavy guard. People had to spend weeks under government observation facilities.

Another thing we noticed during the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist party in Beijing was that Jinping was very happy with its zero COVID policy.

Latest Updates on China’s COVID Zero Policy

Similar to any other country in the world, the Chinese are also easing up with their COVID zero policy. World leaders and the United Nations Human Rights Council also raised their concerns regarding China’s zero-tolerance approach when it comes to the infection of COVID-19.

The Chinese government is known to create policies as per their own will, But this time they might have heard the concerns of global leaders. That is why the Chinese recently lowered some restrictions in areas affected by the COVID zero policy.

• Now, people entering China will have to spend five days in quarantine in a hotel and three days in isolation at home, As per the latest National Health Commission guidelines.
• Previously, people were required to spend ten days in quarantine, including seven days in a government facility.
• At the same time, Chinese officials have also ended the penalty system for airlines that bring any traveler with COVID-19.
• Health officials have also lowered their requirements for PCR testing, which can increase the number of people entering China.
• Another thing that has changed in the recent update is the lockdown of blocks rather than the entire district.
• Previously, the Chinese were limiting the movement of the entire city, But now they are just going to limit the movement to blocks only.

The news of the latest changes did not just make the people of China happy, but investors were also very happy as the Hong Kong stock market, along with the mainland financial market, rose more than 5%.

The only thing that does not look in favor of the general public is that the government has not ended its zero COVID policy yet. They might have eased out in some regulations, but zero COVID policy is still there, and you never know when they can resume the testing once again.

No doubt, the zero COVID policy was affecting the whole economic situation in the country as several business owners and investors were not able to visit the country due to its long quarantine requirements.

The recent changes in public policy have become one of the biggest administrative changes since the first spread of COVID-19 in the country. More and more people have been showing their interest in flights to China as per one of the biggest travel agencies, trip.com.

Most flights to China are booked for the next two weeks, and the number is going to increase as soon as the Chinese government lifts the restrictions.

We cannot make any comments on how these changes are going to impact the number of positive people in China, And we will also cover it in upcoming sessions.

Is China’s COVID Zero Policy Effective?

I know some of you might have been thinking about the effectiveness of COVID zero policy in China. The Chinese have a population of 1.5 billion, which is the highest in any country, and it is no surprise that they are doing everything in their hands to contain the spread of the virus as much as possible.

We did not get the right numbers, but we can assume that if COVID goes out of hand in China, it can create a huge mess in the country. We cannot even imagine how many lives we are going to lose due to this virus, and the Chinese government does not want anything in their watch to get out of hand.

On the 10th of November 2022, Chinese media reported that they had found 10,000 local cases of COVID-19, which is the highest in the last six months. 

On paper, when it comes to the total number of infected people in the country, China’s COVID zero policy might be good, but it is not doing good on the economic front.

The restrictions on movement, mass testing, and huge quarantine time have been keeping investors away from Chinese soil. All these concerns have been raised by the chief economist for Greater China at Jones Lang.

Even though we understand that COVID zero policy can provide short-term benefits, it is not sustainable in the long run. Chinese should learn the way western governments have been handling the outbreaks of COVID-19 on their soil.

You can take a look at the European countries. Each year millions of people around the world visit Europe and a similar trend is also happening right now, but they are not seeing any sharp rise in the positive cases of COVID-19.

Health experts around the world have realized that we have to live with COVID unless there is a vaccine that is 100% effective to prevent the infection in the first place. The Chinese government should learn these lessons and try to open its borders.

Is China COVID Zero Policy Preparation for Biological War?

Before we completely wrap our session up, let’s take a quick look at all the rumors related to the preparations of any biological war.

Even long before the spread of COVID-19 in the world, several western governments have been accusing the Chinese of using biological weapons. The whole debate and allegations ignited when the Chinese found that thousands of people had been reporting similar symptoms, and the situation was getting out of hand in Wuhan back in November 2019.

If you compare the Chinese rules and regulations with any other western country, you will find that other countries have somewhat opened, and the Chinese have not opened their borders yet. 

People are still required to be quarantined before entering the country, while this is not happening in most countries, including the United States, Canada, the UK, and the European Union.

Even if you take a look at the recent reports, the Chinese have once again put restrictions on popular tourist sites, including the Lama Temple and the Great Wall of China. Some experts have been criticizing China for its zero COVID policy, as it seems like biological war training.

It will be premature to make any comments as we have not received any logical reports mentioning the preparation for biological war. Till now, everything seems to be in place as it should be. We will update you more if we find anything with the same.