China's Chaotic U-Turn on Zero-Covid

Men dressed in hazmat suits don't have much to do these days

After Beijing lifted several Covid-19 restrictions, people in China are terrified of going out or they have caught the virus and are self-isolating themselves.

If people are out on the streets, they are desperately trying to secure medicine to treat their symptoms, and in some cases are scouring supermarkets because they believe canned peaches can somehow cure them of Covid-19 even though the government has debunked the rumour.

Canned peaches rumoured to cure Covid-19

Meanwhile, hospitals are overwhelmed by patients coming in, some Covid-19 positive, others fearing they have the symptoms; healthcare workers have no choice but to continue working even if they have Covid.

At Haidian Hospital in Beijing, there was a sign at the pharmacy window that read: "All pharmacists on duty are sick -- please bear with us."

"A lot of doctors are sick with Covid-19 as well but have to report for duty because otherwise the hospital cannot open," a hospital administrator said, declining to be identified. "We must keep the hospital up and running."

The chaotic sudden U-turn on zero-Covid has resulted in businesses unable to open or function properly, affecting not only small shops, but also factories supplying to global supply chains.

Health officials and state media have urged people not to panic and manage their symptoms at home unless they are seriously ill. In its news stories and editorials, state media have tried to play down the virus, when for almost three years it had repeatedly told people to be fearful of the virus and how it was deadly.

Long lines to buy medicine in pharmacies

But it seems China had no plan for a gradual opening by making sure a higher percentage of the elderly were inoculated and in particular with foreign-made mRNA vaccines. Instead people are left to their own devices and many are terrified.

The Financial Times is reporting that Hong Kong health experts were consulted about how to reopen just before the protests happened in China. What advice did they give and was it followed exactly? Winter is not the best time to reopen with influenza going around too, along with not enough people vaccinated. It's a right royal mess.

One has to wonder -- is Beijing doing this to say to the people, "You are tired of the Covid-19 restrictions then fine! Now you can have your so-called freedom! Do you see how chaotic everything is? Is this how you want your country to be post-Covid?"

The abrupt changes are so overwhelming for everyone that one wonders if Beijing actually knows what it's doing, or it is using this opening up to punish everyone?