China’s ‘Zero Covid’ Policy Changes, Explained

The authorities had adjusted some of these rules in early November, when they lifted stay-at-home orders for contacts of close contacts, which left tens of millions of people confined to their homes.

Lockdowns

The measures circumscribe the power of local officials to impose lockdowns and ensure they are lifted quickly. Local authorities may still lock down buildings in the event that a positive case is detected, but they cannot restrict movement and suspend business operations in regions outside a specified “high risk” designation. For “high-risk” areas, the guidelines mandate lockdowns to be lifted if no new positive cases are detected for five consecutive days.

In locked down areas, the authorities are strictly prevented from blocking fire escapes and public exits, a possible concession to recent protesters. Blocked exits were widely discussed as a principal cause of excess deaths during a building fire in the western region of Xinjiang, a disaster that laid the groundwork for mass unrest in over two dozens cities last week.

Vaccinations

The government reiterated its pledge to do more to increase the vaccination rate of older people. But the new rules left unanswered questions about how officials will try to contain the inevitable wave of infections. The Communist Party has accelerated its vaccination campaign in recent days by approving several new Chinese-made vaccines and publishing interviews with experts who try to allay fears of the health risks from getting a shot.

But those defenses may not come in time. Even if China moves swiftly to boost its vulnerable populations, like older adults, it needs a few months for the protection to kick in, said Siddharth Sridhar, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong. China’s domestic vaccines also are typically weaker than shots based on the newer mRNA technology, and experts generally agree that a third shot is necessary to prevent severe illness.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/world/asia/china-zero-covid-changes.html