COVID-19 resurgence hits but China not to return to lockdown approach: Report

Over the projections on the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak in China by late June, Dr. Zhang Wenhong, the director of the centre for infectious diseases at Huashan Hospital in Shanghai and a key figure in China's response to Covid, stated in a recent interview with Chinese media outlets that the nation "should not go too far in taking pandemic prevent measures in response," referring to last year's harsh restrictions and lockdowns that shunted China's economic growth.

He added that up to three-quarters of Chinese people infected in the most recent rise were not infected in the initial wave. Nonetheless, the resurgence in cases, Dr. Zhang noted “should not have a huge impact overall on economic activity and life."

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Chinese officials appear to be attempting to get rid of the strict limitations that by the end of last year had worn out the public's tolerance, reported New York Times. The administration has turned its attention to boosting economic growth and job creation since dropping its stringent restrictions on travel.

Politics may view the 20 per cent unemployment rate among urban teenagers as more urgent than the growing Covid figures.

Dali Yang, a political science professor at the University of Chicago said,“After most people had caught the last wave, the intensity was gone." The professor has been writing a book on how China tackled the pandemic.

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He continued by noting that China now considered Covid to be a "Class B" illness, which is not the most urgent classification, and that officials there, while keeping an eye on the most recent spike in cases, "have also been trying to reassure the public, saying that the symptoms are relatively mild."

65 million Covid cases a week by late June

Since April, more instances of Covid have been recorded in China, particularly from more recent subvariants that are circulating globally.

Last Monday, Dr. Zhong Nanshan, a well-known physician who was among the first to publicly acknowledge in early 2020 that the coronavirus might spread quickly among people, said that by late June, up to 65 million people a week may get sick with it throughout China.

That would be an increase from the 40 million infections each week he predicted in late May. China no longer regularly releases official national infection estimates, reported the media portal.

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“People have become used to infections, and they see this as normal in the post-Covid era,” the 36-year-old Lin Zixian from a Beijing tech company told NYTimes.

Chinese President Xi Jinping still wears Covid protection mask when he meets people indoors. But Lin said that he and his other family members had stopped wearing masksin most of the public spaces. He also added that even many people in China have stopped masking up in public spaces.

“Many of my friends got infected last year and got infected again this year,” Lin said. “Personally, I’m pretty calm about the virus and pandemic.”

China's zero Covid policy and lockdowns

China had implemented a stringent "zero Covid" policy aimed at containing the spread of the COVID-19 virus within its borders. This policy involved strict lockdowns, mass testing, contact tracing, and quarantine measures to prevent local transmission and minimise the importation of cases from abroad.

China experienced a significant rebound in economic growth after easing its lockdown measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first quarter of 2020, China's economy contracted by 6.8% compared to the previous year, marking its first quarterly contraction in decades. In December last year, the country lifted restrictions and resumed economic activities.

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