Prognosis
Why It’s So Hard for China to Exit Covid Zero
- Health system hindered by lopsided distribution of resources
- China expected to maintain isolationist policy through 2022
This article is for subscribers only.
When Covid-19 flared in the northern Chinese border region of Ejin late last year, it revealed a key impediment to the country charting an exit from its zero-tolerance pandemic strategy.
The healthcare system is so unprepared that any major shift away from Covid Zero -- which in China has meant frequent mass testing, swift quarantines, lockdowns and sealed international borders -- risks a public health crisis.