China’s dynamic zero-Covid policy sustainable

Although China’s success in controlling the spread of the coronavirus pandemic remains commendable, the West has never stopped politicizing it at all costs, even risking the lives of their own people.

It can be remembered that in the early days of the pandemic, the West accused China of not responding swiftly enough to the outbreak and covering up the true consequences of the epidemic, and that the alleged laxity resulted in a global pandemic.

However, currently, the discourse has taken a different direction, now accusing China of acting too strictly in containing the spread of the virus within its own territory.

While the first criticism came two years ago when news about the virus spiraled, the second one came after China swiftly reacted to the all-time mutating virus, especially after the emergence of the Omicron variant in November 2021.

In a time when the Western glory is virtually diminishing amid China’s rise, such gimmicks are unsurprising despite being least helpful.

Asking China to act more seriously and vice-versa with regard to its approach to the pandemic at two different times is not only controversial but also can be regarded as something driven by interests at individual and state levels.

While the pretext at the first time was risking the global population’s health for slow response and improper reporting of the epidemic, the excuses they found this time are risking foreign investments and disrupting the global supply chain due to frequent lockdowns and long mandatory quarantines. Some Western investors, including large banks, have threatened pulling out of China alleging that their businesses were barely surviving.

Critically examining these calls would reveal an embedded hypocrisy going as far high as to the World Health Organization whose Chief recently remarked that China’s zero-Covid efforts are “unsustainable”.

Such rhetoric has exacerbated the years of anti-China politics among ordinary people in the West, leading to an increase in hate crimes targeting people whose physical features look more Chinese or Asian, accusing them of spreading the virus or stealing their jobs.

Maybe it’s time for Westerners to open their eyes to the ensuing hypocrisy against their own interests amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which may reflect on their behaviors in a time of crisis.

Having surpassed more than 1 million deaths as of late, the United States hit another record of having the highest number of infections, death, and hospitalization, among its estimated 320 million population.

On its part, China’s pandemic control policies and actions have helped the country to maintain a Covid-related death record of around 5,200 people with total infections standing at around 224,000 people since the outbreak.

Comparatively, with only about a quarter of the population of China but two hundred times the number of deaths that China has recorded, the US should have focused more inwardly on its own efforts to address the pandemic and its impacts rather than interfering in China’s internal affairs.

The lower infection and death numbers as far as Covid-19 is concerned in China show how determined the country is in protecting its 1.4 billion people, a determination that has helped sustain economic production relatively well in this difficult time.

Therefore, upholding the dynamic zero-Covid policy should be commended rather than lambasted as doing so helps keep the people safe.

In a recent study published in Nature Medicine, China’s senior policy advisors have warned that removing the dynamic zero-Covid strategy without such safeguards as boosting vaccinations and improving people’s access to treatments would risk about 1.5 million lives.

With only about 50 percent of 80+ years old people have been vaccinated as of March this year, the danger is real and withdrawing from the dynamic zero-Covid policy should rather be gradual and well-planned. This is especially true for a country like China which hosts the largest population on Earth.

It should be noted that China’s dynamic zero-Covid policy does not indicate absolute “zero infection”. It refers to controlling and treating every confirmed case once detected, which aims to achieve maximum containment results with minimum economic and social costs.

Containing the spread of Covid-19 in China has a ripple effect. As people’s lives are protected, the economy as well as revenues are also protected, because it is the people who provide manpower for the economy which in turn generates income for individuals and the state.

China’s booming manufacturing sector and stable agricultural production have helped maintain its annual pace of economic growth even during the pandemic, thanks to its unwavering Covid-19 containment strategies.