Since the rigorously suppressed Covid outbreak in Wuhan at the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, China has pursued a “zero-covid strategy”. With closed borders, strict contact tracing and sharp lockdowns, the Chinese managed to ban the coronavirus almost completely. The presumed country of origin of the novel lung disease returned to a certain normalcy faster than most countries in the world. The outbreak of the Delta variant does not stop at the Chinese either.
The most recent outbreak, which began in Nanjing last month, has spread to 17 provinces, with more than 400 confirmed cases. Almost half of the cases are classified as medium to high risk. Beijing is clearly nervous. China’s Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chunlan (71) has addressed the people with a warning call, according to the state news agency Xinhua.
Sun said at a pandemic response meeting in Beijing on Wednesday that the situation in the country was unclear. She indicated that the spread of the latest wave was not yet brought under control. There have been “several outbreaks in different parts of the country and the development trend remains uncertain,” said Sun, who swears the country to fight a possible new wave.
Stricter border controls
As recently as last week, the leading politicians, the only woman in the 25-person Politburo, had described the outbreak as “controllable”. On Wednesday, she said: “All authorities must give the fight against pandemics the highest priority and ensure that the command systems are operational around the clock.”
All confirmed cases should be proceeded with “resolute action”, with Sun not responding to the recommended measures. “We mustn’t neglect our vigilance for a second,” she demanded. “We must closely monitor our airports, ports and border crossings and hold senior officials accountable for failures.” In addition, hospitals and clinics across the country are inspected in order to close any gaps.
Cities across the country have mass-tested and imposed lockdowns to contain the spread of the virus. Entry controls have been tightened at the borders. For “non-urgent or unnecessary trips”, exit permits and passports will temporarily no longer be issued. So far, around 1.7 billion vaccine doses against Covid-19 have been administered in China. (kes)