Prognosis
China’s Covid-Zero Strategy Risks Leaving It Isolated for Years
- Communist Party views approach as ideological win over U.S.
- ‘There’s definitely a huge political risk for the government’
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As most of the world learns to live with Covid-19, China is tethering itself to eliminating the virus over the long term -- an approach that risks leaving the world’s second-biggest economy isolated for years to come.
China this month saw the contagious delta variant pop up in more than half of 31 provinces despite water-tight border controls, triggering yet another round of targeted lockdowns, travel curbs and mass testing across the country. While the outbreak is the most widespread in China since the initial flare-up in Wuhan last year, the World Health Organization said total cases last Friday were 141 -- around .01% of the new infections that day in the U.S.