According to a New York Times report, ‘It appears that this time China is determined to move forward with normal life as the government’s focus is on economic growth.’ Health officials in China have been reporting an increase in COVID cases due to the XBB variant since April. Since early December, China has been prioritizing a policy of ‘living with the virus’ and since then the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped updating cases weekly.
XBB Variant Behind New Wave
In early December, China suddenly relaxed the Corona restrictions. The result was an estimated 37 million new cases within weeks. In January, experts said they believed about 80 percent of China’s 1.4 billion population had been infected in the first wave. Regarding the second wave that surfaced in April, respiratory disease doctor Zhong Nanshan said that the XBB variant would be responsible for 40 million cases per week by May and 65 million cases per week by June.
Why is China not imposing lockdown?
Now the question is why is China not imposing lockdown? Dr Zhang Wenhong of Huashan Hospital in Shanghai said the increase in cases “should not have an overall impact on economic activity and life” causing China to opt for harsher restrictions and lockdowns. He said that China should not be too strict in taking measures to contain the epidemic as the lockdown could affect the country’s economy and lead to large-scale protests.