On December 26, the Chinese government announced the cancellation of the quarantine requirement for those entering the country, and a day later announced a return to issuing exit visas to Chinese wishing to leave the country. In doing so, the recent restrictions imposed as part of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted, including extensive closures, prolonged isolations, frequent inspections, and freedom of movement conditioned on presentation of a "green code." Despite protests by thousands of the urban population across China against the uncompromising restrictions, the extreme reversal from "zero Covid" policies to "live-with-the-virus" was probably planned long ago, and the protests may simply have accelerated the process.
The hasty U-turn in policy occurred as China is at the beginning of winter and at the beginning of the Omicron wave. It's no surprise, then, that the virus is now spreading across China unhindered. To what extent has it spread? It's hard to know. The Chinese authorities have stopped the mass testing, and hence the data is not reliable. Western estimates, which rely on reports from people and from the crowded hospitals in China, speak of hundreds of millions already infected. In Beijing and Shanghai, it was estimated that about 50 percent of the total population was infected, most of them in mild condition. Chinese authorities have changed the way they define mortality from the virus, and consequently, China only reports a few deaths. But evidence coming from the cemeteries and crematoriums points to a much graver picture. According to estimates by Chinese experts made before the policy change, lifting the restrictions will result in the infection of one billion people and the death of 1-2 million of them. These estimates are also consistent with the statistics from the West.
In about two weeks, the largest "annual migration" in the world will begin, and hundreds of millions of Chinese will travel to visit their families for the upcoming Year of the Rabbit. This will lead to the spread of the virus to the villages as well, and will especially endanger the elderly, whose level of immunity is even lower than the already low level of immunity among the general population in China.
Re Israel: In December Hainan Airlines inaugurated two flight routes between Israel and China, and the new Minister of Health has already announced mandatory tests for those arriving from China. In addition to continued disruptions in global supply chains, there is also a fear of importing new variants from China. It seems that in the coming Year of the Rabbit, China will continue to pique the world’s interest.
On December 26, the Chinese government announced the cancellation of the quarantine requirement for those entering the country, and a day later announced a return to issuing exit visas to Chinese wishing to leave the country. In doing so, the recent restrictions imposed as part of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted, including extensive closures, prolonged isolations, frequent inspections, and freedom of movement conditioned on presentation of a "green code." Despite protests by thousands of the urban population across China against the uncompromising restrictions, the extreme reversal from "zero Covid" policies to "live-with-the-virus" was probably planned long ago, and the protests may simply have accelerated the process.
The hasty U-turn in policy occurred as China is at the beginning of winter and at the beginning of the Omicron wave. It's no surprise, then, that the virus is now spreading across China unhindered. To what extent has it spread? It's hard to know. The Chinese authorities have stopped the mass testing, and hence the data is not reliable. Western estimates, which rely on reports from people and from the crowded hospitals in China, speak of hundreds of millions already infected. In Beijing and Shanghai, it was estimated that about 50 percent of the total population was infected, most of them in mild condition. Chinese authorities have changed the way they define mortality from the virus, and consequently, China only reports a few deaths. But evidence coming from the cemeteries and crematoriums points to a much graver picture. According to estimates by Chinese experts made before the policy change, lifting the restrictions will result in the infection of one billion people and the death of 1-2 million of them. These estimates are also consistent with the statistics from the West.
In about two weeks, the largest "annual migration" in the world will begin, and hundreds of millions of Chinese will travel to visit their families for the upcoming Year of the Rabbit. This will lead to the spread of the virus to the villages as well, and will especially endanger the elderly, whose level of immunity is even lower than the already low level of immunity among the general population in China.
Re Israel: In December Hainan Airlines inaugurated two flight routes between Israel and China, and the new Minister of Health has already announced mandatory tests for those arriving from China. In addition to continued disruptions in global supply chains, there is also a fear of importing new variants from China. It seems that in the coming Year of the Rabbit, China will continue to pique the world’s interest.