Prognosis
China Basks in Covid Vindication as Omicron Closes Borders
- Pressure on Covid Zero eased as other nations seal borders
- Omicron risks postponing any China pivot toward reopening
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Countries across the world scrambled this week to impose border and travel curbs after the new omicron variant emerged. In China, it was business as usual.
While scientists race to figure out whether the Covid-19 variant first sequenced in South Africa will pose a bigger problem than the highly infectious delta strain, countries ranging from the U.K. and Israel to Japan erred on the side of caution. They put in place preemptive defenses and travel restrictions designed to keep the variant out, rather than betting on omicron being a flash in the pan. It’s a calculus Beijing didn’t have to consider.