China: Beijing lives with virus after easing ‘zero covid’ policy

Beijing living in the worst covid outbreak since the beginning pandemiclargely due to the sudden relaxation of strict anti-pandemic measures taken by the authorities after protests in a number of Chinese cities due to dissatisfaction with politics.zero covid’.

Last Wednesday, China announced a series of measures that, instead of stepping up draconian restrictions on China For nearly three years they have been easing conditions with the clear intention of starting to live with the virus.

These events have completely affected cities such as Beijing or Canton (south), which counted thousands of infected daily.

disappearance artificial barriers created by the policy of the Chinese government, caused omicron variantthe most contagious and the cause of most outbreaks in the country since the beginning of this year, created an unimaginable situation just a few months ago.

UNREAL NUMBERS

National Health Commission The Asian giant reported 10,815 new positive cases across the country today, of which 1,661 occurred in the capital.

Some numbers in Beijing which have been recurring to a greater or lesser extent since the last week of November, although the evidence suggests that in the last days, after the weakening anti-covid policyThere are still many unrecorded cases in the city.

“In the Wechat group, the most used messaging app in China “From the community where I live, every few hours a new neighbor sends a sheep emoji, which these days means contagion by the similarity in the pronunciation of both words,” the Venezuelan resident of the capital of 22 million admitted to EFE, where everyone seems to know who who got infected COVID-19.

Frequency reduction PCR tests to the public and the use of home antigen tests to detect positive cases, infections in the latter case are often not recorded, have made the real situation in the capital far from the official data provided by Beijing.

In addition, residents of the city have to contend with a shortage of antigen tests in pharmacywhich sometimes requires waiting three to five days to receive the kits and get tested.

OPENING THE ECONOMY

Since the current outbreak began in Chinese capitalmost restaurants and bars remained closed, but open shops and malls allowed the streets to revitalize.

Since last Wednesday, with the announcement of the new measures, many establishments have reopened their doors in the vibrant Sanlitun area after several weeks of inactivity, but today the influx of people is far from normal for a Sunday.

A situation that takes into account living with the virus will have a positive impact on the economy of the Asian giant, some experts say.

‘Transfer from’zero covid’ will eventually normalize consumer spending patterns, but heightened risk of contagion will dampen personal spending in the months following reopening,” Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics, said in a statement.

Economy China According to analysis by Capital Economics, it could rise by 1.6% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the previous year and by 4.9% in the second.

Restrictions under the “zero covid” policy at the national level have all but disappeared, but international borders remain largely closed to travelers from abroad.

Travelers entering the country are subject to a five-day quarantine at centralized government offices and an additional three days of self-monitoring at home, though home monitoring is dependent on increasingly weakened local authorities, which is encouraging for many residents who have not left their homes. home for almost three years China waiting for the disappearance of these quarantines.

EFE