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China’s zero-Covid conundrum

How long can China continue to successfully stamp out coronavirus outbreaks?

As the Beijing Winter Olympics get underway in China this week the host city has reported its highest number of new Covid-19 cases in more than a year. The authorities have put in place a strict 'closed loop bubble’, isolating more than 60,000 athletes, officials and service providers from the rest of the country. China's firm approach to quashing transmission of the virus has been in place ever since the first outbreak in Wuhan. Detection of the virus typically prompts mass testing and can even result in entire cities being placed into snap lockdowns. Only essential travellers are allowed to enter the country and even then only after weeks of strict quarantine. Only a few thousand Chinese citizens are said to have died of Covid-19, a fraction of the number of lives lost in many other nations. But a recent report from the IMF has warned of an economic slowdown in China, blamed in part on the country’s zero-Covid policy. The approach has been welcomed by most citizens, but could public attitudes change if more of the country is forced to stay at home in order to combat outbreaks? Can China follow in the footsteps of other countries that have transitioned towards 'living with the virus'? And will the country have to wait for the next generation of vaccines before opening up?

Ritula Shah is joined by a panel of experts.
Producers: Paul Schuster and Junaid Ahmed.

Available now

49 minutes

Last on

Sat 5 Feb 2022 04:06GMT

Contributors

Ben Cowling – Epidemiologist, University of Hong Kong

Jin Dongyan – Virologist, University of Hong Kong

Lynette Ong – Political scientist, University of Toronto. Author of Outsourcing Repression: Everyday State Power in Contemporary China

Dr Huang Yanzhong – Director, Global Health Studies, Seton Hall University. Senior fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

Featuring

Kerry Allen – Ö÷²¥´óÐã China analyst

Picture

Residents in the Chinese city of Xi’an take nucleic acid tests in a closed community. Credit: Cang Hai / Costfoto /Future Publishing via Getty Images

Broadcasts

  • Fri 4 Feb 2022 10:06GMT
  • Sat 5 Feb 2022 00:06GMT
  • Sat 5 Feb 2022 04:06GMT

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