As the lockdowns enter their third year, China reiterates its zero-COVID strategy, claiming that the widespread of the presumably milder Omicron variant is no cause to relax its guard despite warnings of economic disruptions and even public upheaval.
While other countries discuss the move from pandemic to endemic, China has intensified policies to contain any new outbreak as quickly as possible by sealing cities, closing transportation links, and implementing mass testing programs.
Although the strategy has reduced infections to a minimum, some experts fear that China may be a victim of its own success, since a lack of COVID-19 exposure over the last two years has left it exposed to the more virulent Omicron.
At least until a vital autumn meeting of the ruling Communist Party when President Xi Jinping is anticipated to secure a third term as China's leader, authorities may turn to ever more harsh restrictions, potentially disrupting global supply lines.
Yanzhong Huang, a global health specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), mentioned that China had driven itself into a corner. Beijing appears to be confident in the effectiveness of strict pandemic control efforts.
However, with such a vast population lacking immunity to COVID-19, the new variant is likely to spread quickly throughout the country, he added.
In recent weeks, China has canceled a slew of inbound international flights owing to passenger diseases. Moreover, an official from China's National Health Commission (NHC) stated that although the country is under increasing strain from imported diseases, it is still well-equipped to tackle the virus.
Another early triumph that could lead to issues later was China's rapid development of its own vaccines. While China quickly vaccinated its massive population while many other countries were still battling for supply, studies suggest that their vaccines may not be as effective against Omicron as the widely used mRNA vaccines in the West.
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