Shenzhen Goes into Full Lockdown
bloomberg.com
bloomberg.com
I've been on the cautious side all this time (especially compared to US opinions) but the cat is out of the bag, we can't put it back in. I'm all for mitigation and vaccine drives but the time of full-on lockdowns should be over; Omicron (and whatever comes next) is just too contagious to eradicate completely. (one exception: if it is foreseeable that hospitals cannot cope, then lockdowns should come in place. But not before.)
Meaning it's basically spreading in a 1.4b population with no immunity. (No vaccine immunity and no natural immunity due to Covid-Zero approach)
Even if it's less deadly, if the finite resources to treat severe cases run out, then all severe cases become fatal cases, and then it's much much more deadly.
...and it's not less deadly. Omicron is 1.06 times as lethal as the original strain, and Delta is 2.3 times or something. I can't remember exactly, haven't followed covid as closely.
China is almost back at square one: Outbreak of covid variant for which they have no immunity, which spreads faster than the original, and which is slightly deadlier.
The things they do have though: Could buy Pfizer or Moderna for their vulnerable populations, institutional medical knowledge of how to treat covid and good care pathways, solid testing system(remember at the start when they were doing radiology tests and looking at the damage to the lungs? We've come a long way from then), plenty of time to prepare for an outbreak and increase capacity in the healthcare system.
For China, right now, lockdowns are the best tool they can use.