China has tested lockdowns to destruction

In 2020, China was where the world’s Covid lockdowns began – today, they are finally ending there, too. Until recently, China had seemed committed to its draconian Zero Covid approach. In October, President Xi Jinping assured the Chinese Communist Party Congress: ‘We have adhered to the supremacy of the people and the supremacy of life, adhered to dynamic Zero Covid, and achieved major positive results in the overall prevention and control of the epidemic, and economic and social development.’

Now it’s finally over. China’s testing booths are being dismantled. In Beijing you will no longer need to show a negative PCR test on your smartphone to enter the supermarket, catch the bus or exercise in the park. In Shandong province you won’t need one to buy cough drops – once a marker of suspicion that your family might have Covid. Those who do catch Covid may be allowed to self-isolate at home instead of being carted to the quarantine centre. It’s unclear how complete the relaxation will be. But what is now certain is that the viral genie cannot be squeezed back into its bottle.