Everest Schipper '24
After three years of secrecy, mandated quarantines, city-wide lockdowns, and some of the lowest reported rates of Covid-19 cases, China has finally moved away from its inflammatory and highly restrictive “Zero Covid” policy.
China reported its first cases of Covid-19 on December 31, 2019, after unusual clusters of Pneumonia began appearing and hospitalizing many. Less than two months later, China’s streets were deserted as worldwide countries entered into stages of early Covid-19. For two long months, the United States endured limiting Covid-19 guidelines that left many feeling deflated, depressed, and lacking motivation. As June rolled around, people began returning to the semblances of their normal lives– constraints were still in effect, and masking was prevalent, but large-scale lockdowns were something of the past.
In contrast, when China instituted its Zero Covid policy, they became hellbent on not only minimizing but eradicating the pandemic. They were successful– suppressing Covid-19 to less than five-hundred cases per day across the entire country of one-billion people. However, this quantifiable success came at a serious human cost. People were reduced to the confines of their homes, they experienced invasive Covid-19 testing and screening, and they lost their social and human connections.
One example of the severe limitations was in March of 2022, after over two years of the pandemic, the city of Shanghai launched into the largest lockdown to date. Shanghai has a population of over twenty-three million people, which is over two and a half times the size of New York City. The residents of Shanghai endured a 65-day lockdown which crippled their economy, livelihood, and infrastructure. The over twenty million inhabitants of Beijing underwent a similar experience in November of 2022— even though the restrictions were never officially classified as a lockdown, they echoed the all too familiar deserted streets, intrusive Covid-19 screening, and the disconnect from the outside world that lockdowns traditionally brought.
Lockdowns furthered the disconnect between the Chinese people and the legislators and regulators— it showed how seemingly out of touch the government officials were and where their priorities lied. These feelings and contempt for the government grew and finally erupted in November of last year. Chinese people across the country took to the streets as the white paper protests called into question the legitimacy and longevity of the Covid-19 restrictions. Protestors held white pieces of A4 paper and chanted phrases like “End Zero-Covid.” They protested in the face of censorship and emphasized their peaceful nature. The Chinese never admitted to accepting their demands, but in December 2022, they began rolling back the restrictions and kissed the harsh restrictions goodbye. This resulted in an unprecedented explosion of Covid-19, with case levels reaching well over the original numbers seen in early 2020.
There is no good answer or correct answer to dealing with a highly infectious and deadly disease such as Covid-19. We have to remember that lifting restrictions, and in turn, the spike in cases has killed many and may have unknown long-term consequences. However, to advance, we need to look more long-term and weigh the pros and cons of our actions. Lifting restrictions has allowed for the economy and development of infrastructure to rebound. It has most likely improved mental health across the country and allowed people to regain critical, personal, human connections. Covid-19 is still present, but the Chinese are beginning to be able to move forward, return to their traditions, and release their pent-up desire for normalcy.
This issue lies closer to home than one might expect. There are quite a few Cate students who live in China or that have family and friends that are still currently living there. Covid-19 has obstructed their ability to see their loved ones as well as return to the place they call home. Cathleen Chow, one of El Bat’s very own editors, calls Shanghai home, but she hasn’t been able to return in almost three years. Her friends of almost seven years that are still there have endured countless “quarantine cycles” and “extensive lockdowns.” One interesting detail she talked about is how people have lost access to “groceries and basic living necessities.” These impediments have forced her friends out of Shanghai, but she is still sympathetic and “simply cannot imagine how Covid-19 has been for the locals."
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