China’s Leaders Refuse to Take Covid ‘Lying Flat’

In the U.S. and Europe, the phrase “living with the virus” refers to reopening the economy and trusting that vaccines work. Not in China. In the public discourse, that would be tantamount to “lie flat,” a catchphrase for encouraging inaction — an approach that has grown so popular that it drew a condemnation from President Xi Jinping last year.

The “lie flat” philosophy proposes doing the bare minimum to get by — and China is having none of it. Local governments have taken the offensive to contain outbreaks of the hyper-infectious omicron variant. To them, doing nothing is scarier than Covid.