Nearly three years after the pandemic, China is sticking with its strict policies to contain the COVID-19 that are causing increasing economic damage and frustration, while its borders remain closed to most international travel, Reuters reports.
China has yet to announce when and how it will begin to exit what it calls a "dynamic zero" approach.
China points out that domestic epidemics are inevitable, and its policy is not aimed at having zero cases at all times, but rather "dynamic" action when cases surface.
It consists of prevention and containment. The highly portable variant of the omicron has seen both aspects overemphasized this year.
Prevention focuses on early detection through regular PCR tests, especially in cities, where a recent negative result may condition entry into a business or public facility.
Potential or suspected cases are isolated at home, or quarantined at a government-supervised facility.
Those thought to be close contacts of infected people must be quarantined, while further or potential contact may result in them staying at home.
The tactic is to quickly cut the chain of transmission to prevent outbreaks, and this includes quarantining in government-controlled facilities and locking down buildings, communities or even entire cities.
As of March 2020, China's borders are closed to most visitors. Arrivals of all nationalities are subject to a seven-day quarantine at the facility with three days of home isolation.
Each person's PCR test result is electronically recorded in government databases, as is travel history, which is tracked through cell phone signals.
A "normal" covid profile consists of constant negative test results, no contact with infected people and no visits to risky places. Profiles are maintained through a health app on a mobile phone.
If the profile does not fall into the appropriate category, people are denied access to public places and mass transportation, and a home quarantine that lasts for days is possible, with electronic seals attached to the door to enforce isolation.
As reported by Reuters, profiles can change without warning, as indicated by a change in color or a pop-up window if someone was in a shopping center visited by an infected person. Also if he was in close contact with an infected person.
Visits to other cities or provinces may require quarantine upon arrival.
Lockouts, which can be building-wide or much wider, can be sudden.
When it comes to lockdowns, they can be sudden, just one incident can cause a building or residential complex to be shut down, meaning people are not allowed out of their homes. Some blockades lasted for months.
Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu, Tianjin, Shenzhen were among the largest cities that were closed, some even more than once, while entire provinces and regions such as Xinjiang, Tibet and Jilin were also closed.
Official China claims its policies save lives.
They admit that omicron is less likely to cause serious health problems, but argue that its high transmissibility would mean that large outbreaks would lead to a waste of health resources. They emphasize that vulnerable groups would be hit, among them hundreds of millions of elderly people.
Official China has announced that the number of deaths from covid remains at 4.600 as of 2020. Chinese cities have further improved their defenses against the coronavirus, with more than 560 deaths recorded in Shanghai in April and May.
On the other hand, China has yet to approve any foreign vaccine or any domestic vaccine based on mRNA technology.
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