China’s covid wave could kill as many as 1.5m people
The government can still avoid an enormous death toll
Testing stations are being removed from city streets. The enforcers of “zero-covid” are nowhere to be found. In China’s battle against covid-19, the state has disappeared from the front lines. For nearly three years President Xi Jinping tried to contain the virus, calling his efforts a “people’s war”. Now he has surrendered and the people must live with the enemy.
Mr Xi is not the first leader to conclude that such a fight was unwinnable. But before ditching their zero-covid policies, other countries first took pains to administer vaccines, stockpile antiviral drugs and draw up treatment guidelines. China had ample time to do all of that. Yet more than two years after the first vaccine proved effective, the country remains ill-prepared. That has made opening up much more dangerous than it ought to be.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "Little steps, many lives"
From the December 17th 2022 edition
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