China stands alone in its attitude towards the pandemic – Hindustan Times

The omicron variant of COVID-19 poses enormous challenges for governments. In America, cases are at three times their previous peak in January 2021, hospitals are as busy as they have ever been and deaths have risen by 40% in two weeks to 1,800 per day. Meanwhile, China has recorded just one death from COVID in the past 12 months and fewer than 17,000 cases.

Xi Jinping, Chinas president, hails its record on COVID-19 as proof of the superiority of the one-party system. But his strategy has necessitated strict border controls and severe lockdowns for cities that suffer an outbreak. The 13m residents of Xian, a city in western China, have been confined to their homes since December 23rd. Another 10m are subject to lockdowns elsewhere in the country.

To determine how life has been upended by COVID-19, The Economist devised a global normalcy index. It tracks day-to-day behaviour relating to eight indicators split into three categories: transport, recreation and commercial activity. The index monitors 50 countries, which together account for 75% of the global population and 90% of GDP. Our overall global index is a population-weighted average of the country scores which are, in turn, an average of the eight indicators, where 100 is equivalent to the pre-pandemic norm.

Our overall index stands at 75 points, up from a nadir of 35 points in April 2020. China scores 66 points, placing it 34th in our table, which is topped by Egypt and Pakistanthe only two countries where normalcy is higher than 100, suggesting that activity is above pre-pandemic levels. Normalcy is lowest in the Netherlands, which shut bars, restaurants and many shops in December to reduce infections. America, despite its high infection rate and the pressure on hospitals, scores 70 points, placing it 26th.

Over the past four weeks normalcy has declined in 42 of the countries we track as they reel from the spread of Omicron. But compared with January last year, when few people were vaccinated, it has improved in 47 of the 50 countries, by an average of 22 points. Vaccines have given governments room to loosen restrictions. Britains government hopes to remove most covid rules in England by the end of March, including mandatory self-isolation for those testing positive.

China is one of three countries where normalcy is lower today than it was a year ago. Vietnam imposed stern restrictions last June in response to a surge in cases and is now normalising again. New Zealand had a zero-covid policy in January 2021, under which life continued largely as normal, albeit with strict border controls. It abandoned that approach in October after it was hit by a wave of Delta infections that it could not suppress, and has now adopted a traffic-light system of restrictions. But although 90% of Chinas adults are double-vaccinated, there is no sign that its government plans to follow the same path. That may be because it does not trust the efficacy of its domestically produced vaccines, particularly when faced with a variant that is at least twice as transmissible as the last.

Omicron is likely to expose any gaps in Chinas defences. Cases, still mostly Delta, have spread slowly around the country in recent weeks. Tianjin, a city 110km from Beijing, has recorded 365 infections over the past fortnight. On January 15th an Omicron case was discovered in Beijing. The citys health authorities blamed it on a contaminated parcel from Canada, echoing the central governments anti-Western propaganda. They will hope it is an isolated incident. Beijing can ill afford restrictions as it prepares to host the Winter Olympic Games, beginning on February 4th.

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2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on http://www.economist.com

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China stands alone in its attitude towards the pandemic - Hindustan Times