April 2022 - China Covid News

[flameproof]

I wonder, they cancelled the Victory Over Covid gala. Seems the gold medal for Covid efforts will be postponed.

https://www.reddit.com/r/shanghai/co..._victory_gala/

[shri]

Interesting bits of history in here.

Long before its “zero-Covid” policy, China had a “zero-sparrow” policy. In the spring of 1958, the government mobilized the nation to try to exterminate sparrows, which Mao Zedong had declared to be pests that destroyed crops. All over China, people banged pots and pans, lit firecrackers and waved flags to keep the birds from landing, so they would fall and die from exhaustion.

But sparrows ate harmful insects, and with the birds nearly gone, insect infestations ruined crops and contributed to the three-year Great Famine, when tens of millions of Chinese starved to death.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/04...tical-campaign

[Cheeky Kiwi]

Interesting bits of history in here.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/04...tical-campaign

Yes that was part of Mao's Great Leap Forward, the 4 pests campaign

Showing that humankind do not really learn from history

In other news:

five times more likely to experience severe Covid-19 symptoms when they are infected

kakaka

[Cheeky Kiwi]

Double down on stupid yo


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-14/xi-says-china-must-persist-with-covid-zero-even-as-costs-mount?srnd=premium-asia&sref=w8Wy1knr


Chinese President Xi Jinping says his government will stick to its zero-tolerance approach to Covid even as public anger simmers in Shanghai and economic costs mount.


“Prevention and control work cannot be relaxed,” Xi said during a trip to the island province of Hainan, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Wednesday, the same day the financial hub saw a record 27,719 new cases.

Officials implementing Covid Zero need to adhere to the principle of “people first and life first,” Xi said. “Persistence is victory,” he added.

Persistence is victory - famous last words

[Cornmeal]

Double down on stupid yo


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-14/xi-says-china-must-persist-with-covid-zero-even-as-costs-mount?srnd=premium-asia&sref=w8Wy1knr


Chinese President Xi Jinping says his government will stick to its zero-tolerance approach to Covid even as public anger simmers in Shanghai and economic costs mount.


“Prevention and control work cannot be relaxed,” Xi said during a trip to the island province of Hainan, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Wednesday, the same day the financial hub saw a record 27,719 new cases.

Officials implementing Covid Zero need to adhere to the principle of “people first and life first,” Xi said. “Persistence is victory,” he added.

Persistence is victory - famous last words

Is there anyone looking at excess deaths so far this year?

Shanghai has probably peaked today, cases are down to ~23,000. If they can get it back down to zero, HK might *have to* go back to zero as well.

past the peak, eh?

[Cheeky Kiwi]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...&sref=w8Wy1knr

China Won’t Let Hong Kong Cut Seven-Day Quarantine, Tien Says

• Beijing needs policy shift for city to ease further: lawmaker
  
• Calls for Hong Kong to ease flight bans over imported cases
  

Hong Kong can’t reduce its one-week quarantine for incoming residents until Beijing moves past Covid Zero, a deputy to China’s top legislature said, showing the constraints facing the financial hub to further opening up internationally.


“For us to cut it down to seven, already the mainland is unhappy and feels they cannot connect with us,” Michael Tien, a National People’s Congress deputy and city lawmaker, said in an interview. “So to go any lower than seven, forget it. If we go lower than seven, they may even ban Hong Kong people from going into Shenzhen.”


Chief Executive Carrie Lam slashed quarantine for incoming travelers to seven days from 14 and lifted blanket flight bans on countries including the U.S. and U.K. last month, after the city’s curbs triggered outcry from international business leaders and saw thousands of expats flee. That move also allowed most infected residents to quarantine at home.


China, by contrast, has stuck with strict lockdowns like the one in Shanghai, where 25 million residents have been largely restricted to their homes for nearly two weeks. President Xi Jinping pledged his government’s commitment to Covid Zero on Wednesday, saying prevention and control systems cannot be relaxed.


China is using the world’s strictest border curbs, mass testing drives and city-wide lock downs to stamp out the infectious omicron variant. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that China is shortening quarantine periods 10 days from 14 in eight cities as part of a trial that could lead to more widespread changes.


Another Hong Kong politician, who asked not to be identified due to sensitivities around virus policy, said the city’s drift from the mainland’s strategy was so sensitive that it wasn’t talked about at last month’s NPC meeting. He agreed Hong Kong could not further reduce quarantine until China shifts its policy away from Covid Zero.
‘Strike a Balance’

Tien said easing the week-long flight ban on any route that imports three or more Covid cases was one way Hong Kong could mend some global ties. Unpredictable operating conditions have seen Virgin Atlantic and BA suspend operations in Hong Kong.


Reducing the ban to three days would “strike a balance” between loyalty to the mainland’s strategy and restoring global links, he said. The other politician advocated for scrapping the ban, saying it no longer served a purpose with the city still logging more than 1,000 daily local infections.


Tien and the other politician agreed it was unlikely Hong Kong’s border with mainland China would open this year, with the latter saying the city should focus on its international ties as worries increase over the state of the economy. Previously, Lam said the China border was the city’s priority over international travel.


Connecting with the mainland depends on two things, according to Tien.


“One is whether we can get down to zero cases for a long time, which I doubt,” he said. “The other is whether mainland will change its policy, which I doubt.”

[mucaari]

“So to go any lower than seven, forget it. If we go lower than seven, they may even ban Hong Kong people from going into Shenzhen.”

They already need to quarantine. How much more ban can there be? Fucking idiot.

“One is whether we can get down to zero cases for a long time, which I doubt,” he said. “The other is whether mainland will change its policy, which I doubt.”

Ah, so these lawmakers already are convinced the border to China won't open, yet we can't open our border cause of 'loyalty'?

[mengfei]

Looks like things are heating up

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzI...C7&wx_header=3

[Barbaravonbreit]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...&sref=w8Wy1knr

China Won’t Let Hong Kong Cut Seven-Day Quarantine, Tien Says

• Beijing needs policy shift for city to ease further: lawmaker
  
• Calls for Hong Kong to ease flight bans over imported cases
  

Hong Kong can’t reduce its one-week quarantine for incoming residents until Beijing moves past Covid Zero, a deputy to China’s top legislature said, showing the constraints facing the financial hub to further opening up internationally.


“For us to cut it down to seven, already the mainland is unhappy and feels they cannot connect with us,” Michael Tien, a National People’s Congress deputy and city lawmaker, said in an interview. “So to go any lower than seven, forget it. If we go lower than seven, they may even ban Hong Kong people from going into Shenzhen.”


Chief Executive Carrie Lam slashed quarantine for incoming travelers to seven days from 14 and lifted blanket flight bans on countries including the U.S. and U.K. last month, after the city’s curbs triggered outcry from international business leaders and saw thousands of expats flee. That move also allowed most infected residents to quarantine at home.


China, by contrast, has stuck with strict lockdowns like the one in Shanghai, where 25 million residents have been largely restricted to their homes for nearly two weeks. President Xi Jinping pledged his government’s commitment to Covid Zero on Wednesday, saying prevention and control systems cannot be relaxed.


China is using the world’s strictest border curbs, mass testing drives and city-wide lock downs to stamp out the infectious omicron variant. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that China is shortening quarantine periods 10 days from 14 in eight cities as part of a trial that could lead to more widespread changes.


Another Hong Kong politician, who asked not to be identified due to sensitivities around virus policy, said the city’s drift from the mainland’s strategy was so sensitive that it wasn’t talked about at last month’s NPC meeting. He agreed Hong Kong could not further reduce quarantine until China shifts its policy away from Covid Zero.
‘Strike a Balance’

Tien said easing the week-long flight ban on any route that imports three or more Covid cases was one way Hong Kong could mend some global ties. Unpredictable operating conditions have seen Virgin Atlantic and BA suspend operations in Hong Kong.


Reducing the ban to three days would “strike a balance” between loyalty to the mainland’s strategy and restoring global links, he said. The other politician advocated for scrapping the ban, saying it no longer served a purpose with the city still logging more than 1,000 daily local infections.


Tien and the other politician agreed it was unlikely Hong Kong’s border with mainland China would open this year, with the latter saying the city should focus on its international ties as worries increase over the state of the economy. Previously, Lam said the China border was the city’s priority over international travel.


Connecting with the mainland depends on two things, according to Tien.


“One is whether we can get down to zero cases for a long time, which I doubt,” he said. “The other is whether mainland will change its policy, which I doubt.”

Does this idiot even realize that this would be Hong Kong's death sentence? If there is still a quarantine requirement this summer, HKas a hub is dead.

[shri]

HKas a hub is dead.

Been dead for a while. I don't think Tien's the person who is an "idiot" in this case. The buck stops somewhere up north in Shenzhen or Beijing.