Chinese people upset over prolongation of zero-Covid policy ahead of 20th National Congress

Beijing [China], October 12 (ANI): Chinese people, who were hoping that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) zero-Covid policy will be relaxed after the 20th National Congress, were upset to know that the policy will continue.
There is growing public pressure on the Chinese Government to relax its zero-Covid policy given the downturn in the country’s economy, reported local media.
However, the discussions during the ongoing 7th Plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are, inter alia, focussed on the party’s resolve to continue with the stringent zero-Covid policy even after the 20th National Congress of CCP.
This was also echoed by the Party’s mouthpiece ‘People’s Daily’ which urged (October 10) the public to “show patience” with the zero-Covid policy for cutting all virus transmission chains.
The People’s Daily called for patience has dampened the hopes of the public that Covid-related restrictions would be eased after the Congress.
Notably, China has seen a rebound in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks, fuelled by more transmissible variants.
New Omicron sub-variants BF.7 and BA.5.1.7, which are highly infectious with greater transmissibility have been detected in China, in the latest COVID flare-up, which comes just ahead of the 20th Party Congress.
BF.7 subvariant spread to more Chinese provinces on Monday. The highly infectious virus was firstly detected in northwest China. On the other hand, the subvariant BA.5.1.7 was detected in the Chinese mainland for the first time, said Li Shujian, deputy director of the local disease prevention and control centre, reported Global Times.
Officials from the northern Chinese province of Shandong said that since October 4 locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases were triggered by variant BF.7. World Health Organization had given out a warning against the highly infectious BF.7 COVID subvariant. It has also expected the subvariant to become a new dominant variant.
China is the world’s last major economy still enforcing strict zero-Covid measures, which aim to stamp out chains of transmission through border restrictions, mass testing, extensive quarantines, and uncompromising snap lockdowns.
The ruling Communist Party has used the zero-Covid strategy to argue that its political model is superior to Western democracies, and Xi has thrown his weight behind the policy. For local officials, doubling down on zero-Covid is a way to toe the Party line, demonstrate their loyalty to Xi and prevent any large-scale outbreak that could jeopardize their career weeks before the Party Congress, reported CNN.
As a result of the restrictions, some inside China have taken to calling this year’s holiday “the bleakest Golden Week ever” as people become fatigued with three years of Covid restrictions, choosing instead to stay at home rather than risk getting caught in unexpected lockdowns. (ANI)