10:55 a.m .: The Zero Covid policy in China on borrowed time?
The Omicron strain is putting China’s coronavirus strategy under pressure like never since the first wave of Covid two years ago. How long can China continue with its zero Covid policy?
With the arrival of Omicron, entire cities find themselves confined: 17 million inhabitants have had to stay at home since Sunday.
If official figures are to be believed, in two years, China has recorded barely 115,000 cases of contamination, including 4,636 deaths to be exact. The communist regime sees it as a validation of its authoritarian political system, and its media extensively dwells in contrast on the catastrophic health situation of the great American rival.
But shutting down entire regions, particularly the most industrialized ones, is seriously disrupting supply chains, including internationally. Entire sectors such as tourism, transport or catering continue to suffer from restrictions. In addition to the economic cost, the human cost is high. Many confined residents have complained of supply problems.
At the beginning of the month, a prestigious epidemiologist, Zeng Guang, considered that zero Covid might not remain on the agenda forever and called for “coexistence” with the virus.