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The Economist January 1st 2022
China
Covid-19 in Xi’an
The price of zero Millions are being confined to their homes in one of China’s biggest cities. Such lockdowns could become commoner, and costly
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or much of the pandemic, the lives of most people in China have remained relatively normal except for hassles caused by tough border controls and occasional disruptions to internal travel. For the 13m residents of the western city of Xi’an, that changed on December 23rd when offi cials imposed one of the country’s biggest lock downs since the covid19 pandemic began. Four days later the rules were tightened further. Residents can leave home only to be tested for the disease. No one may leave or enter Xi’an without approval. The measures are in response to a tiny outbreak in the city. As The Economist went to press, fewer than 1,000 people had test ed positive. But China has a “zerocovid” policy: any case is leapt upon, with harsh local lockdowns to make sure there is no spread. The authorities have not reported any infections involving the Omicron var iant in Xi’an (they believe the outbreak be gan early in December with a case import ed from Pakistan). Only a handful of cases of Omicron have been reported elsewhere in China. They must be nervous about it,
however. The variant spreads faster than Delta, which has been the main type de tected recently in China. Omicron can evade the antibodies which the immune system produces in response to vaccina tion and infection. Offi cials are anxious to avoid any covidrelated disruptions to the Winter Olympics, which are due to be held in and around Beijing in February. Cases of any variant have been rare: America currently records more in a day than China has discovered throughout the pandemic. Extraordinary levels of testing, the mobilisation of armies of quarantine enforcers and contacttracing apps have helped. Offi cials are punished if cases are discovered in their areas. Twentysix have been disciplined in Xi’an. On December 27th the city began testing its entire popu lation for the virus, taking 6.4m samples in → Also in this section 43 Xi’s secret speeches — Chaguan is away
just one day. Other countries are trying to come to terms with the idea that sars CoV2, thanks to growing immunity against it, is becoming just another respi ratory virus with which all must live. China is still trying to crush it. China’s worries are compounded by the performance of locally made vaccines, which are the only ones available in the country. Earlier in December China said more than 80% of its people were fully jabbed. But a study by Hong Kong’s medical schools, published on December 23rd, found that antibodies produced in re sponse to CoronaVac, one of the common ly used vaccines, do not prevent infection with Omicron after either a second dose or a booster. (Boosters commonly used in the West are more eff ective.) This means Chi na’s high vaccination rate will do little to tamp Omicron’s spread. Like other vac cines, however, those used in China should off er good protection against se vere disease and death. In America, Europe and South Africa, Omicron has driven growth in cases that is more rapid than any since the pandemic began. Omicron’s high transmissibility is likely to force China to play more whacka mole by locking down cities. Even before the cases in Xi’an, precau tions surrounding the Winter Olympics were intense. The government had banned nonessential attendees, such as foreign fans, and imposed strict “closedloop” pro tocols for athletes, trainers and support
